By Sariba Manneh
Officials of the National Water and Electricity Company (NAWEC), yesterday Monday 27th March 2023, briefed members of the press on their new tariff which will take effect on 10th of April 2023.
Speaking at the Press Conference, Nawec director Mr Nani Juwara said since 2015, the company has maintained the old tariff. According to him, the “reasons for the new tariff is because of the current market crisis and things are not the same all over the world.” He said globally, fuel prices and the cost of materials have increased particularly in the case of Nawec.
“Our major cost driver’s which is fuel, lubricants, spare parts and other materials, have unpreceedently increased in cost during the last two years which is as a result of the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic, and the Russia-Ukraine war, causing a huge increase in the price of fuel,” Juwara told the press. He further explained that most of their inputs are imported and said when the tariff was fixed in 2015, they were buying fuel a D36 to D46 per litre, contrary to now, when they buying fuel at D78.00 per liter. This he said is a huge amount.
That equally, when the tariff was fixed in 2015, Nawec bought heavy fuel at four hundred and forty US Dollars per ton; That this has jumped to over six hundred and fifty US Dollars per ton, due to the ongoing Ukraine war. He said the high price of the dollar in the market is also a contributing factor for increasing water and electricity bills come April 2023.
Mr Juwara further explained that Nawec is making huge losses in terms of foreign exchange and this is not sustainable unless some adjustments are made to enable them sustain the business in order to assure Gambians with a stable, reliable and quality electricity supply.
According to him, through the efforts of Nawec and the government and their regulator, they have made a determination through consultation with other stakeholders, to ensure that the new tariff will be a true reflection of the current situation of the market. He said the decision has been taken and they have made some slight increases in both water and electricity in terms of the tariff.
Below is the new tariff table:
