This may sound too simple of a solution to our utility problems, but
tackling a problem of this magnitutde requires scrapping it, and starting
from scratch.  I would like to know what contractual agreements were entered
into to begin with.  Whoever headed the negotiations for us, did a darn
lousy job.

Here we have a country whose entire length is navigable by water :), whose
river empties into the Atlantic ocean (one of the biggest waterways on this
planet).  I think it is time to shift our attention on harnessing this river
and making good use of it.  It is all a matter of weighing the opportunity
costs involved.  Do we want to provide excellent utility supply at the cost
of lower returns on fisheries, and perhaps tourism?

Let's look at tourism for a minute.  I think a lot of focus has been put on
monetary returns.  What great benefits have we acquired from this trade for
the past 30something yrs?  How about negative returns?  Well, well, rise in
crime rate, diseases, drugs, money laundering, corruption, prostitution,
etc, etc.

Fisheries on the other hand, fetches stagnant returns on revenue, and
massive shifts in tides that lead to erosion problems on the coastal areas.

It is time for a utility makeover.  It is time to eradicate ourselves from
the western mongers, and make better judgements for The Gambia.  Think about
the benefits of having a constant supply of utilities all over the country.
The lack of foreign investors goes deeper than just being under military
rule and stability.  For any startup company, your number one concern would
be your overhead costs (which includes utilities), especially IT companies.
That's what would run you out of business pretty quick.

It's time to dam the darn river Gambia.  Enough of "the only river that's
navigable throughout its entire length".  Enough of the "Port of the smiling
coast".  Simply, enough of pleasing western mongers.  Get a doggon' loan and
turn the country into a powerhouse.  We may even get neighbouring Senegal to
sign a contract.  I would start by breaking, if applicable, any contrual
agreements entered into by the government.

"I ain't doing no business in darkness, coz if you snooze, you will loose."

Happy koriteh, eid-ul-fitr!  Allah bless us all.

Essa


>From: fatou camara <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: NAWEC ,WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM????
>Date: Sun, 24 Dec 2000 11:42:40 -0500
>
>Did any of you see the Nawec MD's interview on the Daily Observer captioned
>'NAWEC OWED D150 MILLION.According to him this amount is due to unpaid
>bills
>by customers,fair enough,but what kind of customers are these people.If i
>could remember well,i once had an arrear of D150 with Nawec and my services
>were disconnected,that is both water and Electricity.It was on a Friday
>when
>i just came from a vacation in London,i called all Nawec offices but they
>were all closed and i was told by a friend who work with the company that
>reconnection can only be done on Monday cause they don't work
>weekends.Imagine sleeping in the dark for almost three days and also no
>water supply which means i was not able to use my bathroom.
>My point here is that Nawec officials know very well who and who owed them
>that amount,but will they disconnect them ? If they can disconnect us the
>poor ones for D150 why would they spare anyone especially the so called
>rich
>people.
>As long as we don't stop the favouritism,it is not gonna work for us.Let us
>be ourselves and carry out our duties without fear or favour,if we think
>that favouring certain people will make us stay in that post forever,we are
>kidding ourselves.Well it sometimes work in the Gambia,but how long do you
>have to live your life like that?
>I had lots of interviews with Nawec officials and i did them
>documentaries,but each time they were like,power problems will be sorted
>out
>soon.When is soon? I was in Gambia in September when there was a 10 weeks
>load shedding,it was like 18hrs off and six hours on,can you imagine 18
>whole hours off electricity.I was lucky that i only stayed for 14 nights.I
>love Gambia like all other Gambians do,but there are some things that are
>just disgusting,we see them happening everyday,but are we doing much about
>them? Let us remember that Electricity supply plays a very important role
>in
>development,so if we still want to attain vision 20/20 the blue prints of
>the Gambia we have to work on Nawec.
>No hard feelings,
>Fatou Harona Drammeh.
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