Courtesy ot the Point Newspaper @ http://www.thepoint.gm/headlines687.htm

I Have Fired till I Have Nothing to Fire - President Jammeh
Monday 3rd April 2006

By Pa Modou Faal & Osman Kargbo

President Yahya Jammeh has said the problem of NAWEC is not lack of 
capacity or human resource but one of management.

"I have fired and fired until now I have nothing to fire," said the 
President at the state opening of the National Assembly last Friday.

He vowed that he is going to solve the epileptic electricity situation 
in the country before the commencement of the forthcoming AU Summit.

The President cited an instance when he was having a meeting with some 
foreign investors at the State House and suddenly there was a power 
outage. He said he was so embarrassed by this development because, 
according to him, such things send negative signal to investors.

He further said three generators would arrive in the country this month, 
which would boost power supply in the country, adding that the much 
talked about rural electrification is also in progress.

Dilating on illegal connection, President Jammeh seriously warned those 
engaged in the practice to desist from it, vowing that any body caught 
doing such dubious deal would be dealt with severely.

He therefore called on Gambians to be honest and pay their bills due to 
NAWEC on time to enable the institution meets its obligation.

On the Electricity Sub-sector, the President said the sector is making 
progress especially with the Rural Electrification Project. "Subsequent 
to my Government's intervention," he explained, "the following six power 
station projects have been completed and provisionally taken over by 
NAWEC and are ready for commissioning, although minor works need to be 
finished: Barra-Essau, Kerewan, Farafenni, Kaur, Bansang and Basse.
"My Government have also been able to convince private sector 
participation in the sub-sector with the signing of a Power Purchase 
Agreement with Global Trading Group for the implementation of 
Independent Power Projects (IPPs). This agreement paved the way for the 
building of a 25MW Power Plant at Brikama.

"NAWEC is currently negotiating with other companies in this venture and 
hopefully, with private sector participation, electricity supply in The 
Gambia will increase considerably."

Turning to tourism, President Jammeh said the sector has been 
contributing substantially to the development of the economy. "Tourism 
accounts for almost 16% of GDP," he said. "Besides agriculture, it is 
the largest foreign exchange earner. In 2004 foreign exchange earnings 
from Tourism related distribution trade activities totaled to $40 
million. The industry employs 10,000 people in the formal sector and 
about 20,000 in the informal sector."

The industry continues to grow at a steady and consistent pace, 
registering a growth in tourist arrival of 22 per cent from 2003/04 to 
2004/05 tourist season, he said.

"It is estimated that the 2005/06 season will see a further growth of 40 
per cent. These figures represent only those visitors coming via 
chartered flights, excluding those that come in by scheduled flights, 
land and sea," he added.

The health of the nation was also brought to the fore by the President. 
He said access to quality health care is given a top priority by his 
government, and that the "Health System is widely recognised as one of 
the best in the sub-region," he added.

"Since July 22nd 1994, massive capital investment have been made in the 
field of Health. Seventeen new Health Facilities have been constructed 
and four of these are hospitals. Alongside these Long-term Investments, 
we are experiencing marked improvements in our health indicators. 
Malaria-related deaths have declined by 35%."

Delving into the energy sector, President Jammeh said The Gambia 
National Petroleum (GNPC) is working very hard to attract international 
investors to come and invest in The Gambia's upstream hydrocarbon 
resources. "Exploration of oil and gas is a high risk investment," he said.

He further explained: "The major players are the international companies 
which are willing to invest in projects based on their hydrocarbon 
potential, geological risk, fiscal and legal terms as well as political 
stability in the country involved.

"Negotiations are still on-going especially for the Alhamdulilah Block 
(A1) and Block (A4). On these two blocks, GNPC has succeeded in signing 
a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with a Canadian International 
Company called Buried Hill Energy (BHE), the very company that did the 
interpretation of our 3-D Seismic Data on A1.

"My Government has been cautiously negotiating with Buried Hill Energy 
(BHE) for a fear deal in these projects and Gambians should be rest 
assured that any licences entered into, will serve the interests of both 
parties."

(To be continued)
 

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