Abdoulai G.Dibba
The National Assembly Member for Wuli East Hon. Suwaibou Touray in his contribution to the adjournment debate on Friday 6th October 2017, expressed dismay that two communities in the West Coast Region, namely Nema Kunku and Farato Madina, are inadvertently deprived of water and electricity, despite being located within the service zone.
Hon. Touray said he visited an area of Nema Kunku where electricity and water services are closed to the two communities but there are no electric poles nor any water pipes for residents to access utility services.
“I visited Nema Kunku where I was pronounced as a member of the National Assembly and this drew the attention of quite a number of residents who all came to me to explain their predicament with the hope that their plight would now be transmitted to the responsible authorities for possible redress,” he stated.
Hon. Touray asserted that this was why he was amplifying their voices so that Ministers could capture it and do something for the desperate residents of the two communities.
He said he surveyed the whole area with the residents who showed him only one well which in fact was broken down and could not be used at the moment; that this compels residents to use donkey carts to fetch water from other neighbourhoods which is quite unfortunate.
The Wuli East NAM said NAWEC poles are closed to the community but for some reasons the Utility Company did not construct any poles nor build water pipes to allow residents to access water, and this has totally baffled the understanding of the people.
“This is a large community who cannot survive without water and Government should immediately look into their plight and address the situation with immediate urgency,” the Wuli East NAM said.
Hon. Touray went further to inform his colleagues that the same situation exists in Farato Madina in the Kombo South constituency.
He said a large number of inhabitants could not access water because the main water pipe is over 200 meters away from the people.
He pointed out that NAWEC would charge between 160,000 to 200,000 dalasi for provision of water, which is unaffordable to residents.
He also indicated that electric poles are far away from residents making it exorbitant to access.
“NAWEC needs to provide more main pipes to make it accessible and affordable to the people” he suggested.
He finally called on the Minister of Energy to prevail on the Utility Company to look into their plight and redress the anomaly.
He said this is the second time he is speaking on this matter and he would continue to do so until their problems are addressed.
The member for Kombo South cum Majority Leader Hon. Kebba K. Barrow in his contribution, concurred with what the member for Wuli East said as ‘quite’ true.
He said the boreholes that produce water for the Greater Banjul area are all located in his constituency.
He said the water is sent to the treatment plant before being supplied to consumers; that the irony is the people of his constituency do not have water.
He said even his own home is affected. He urged government to look into the matter and address the situation.
