QCell’s QPower service ‘no more available’

QPower, the latest service of QCell, is no more available barely less than three weeks after it was launched, the Gambia News Online can reveal.  

The QPower service allows QCellsubscribers to use their mobile phones to recharge their electricity cash-power. 

Muhammed Jah, CEO of QCell

QCell, the latest GSM company to enter The Gambia’s telecoms industry, said in a text message to its subscribers that it has double regrets over the setback. The company said it regrets that the service is no more available, as well as regrets any inconvenience the unavailability of the service may have caused.

The service was launched on 5 March this year by QCell in collaboration with national electricity provider Nawec.

By the time of going to press, no official reason was given for this impromptu stoppage of the service by the company.  So it is not clear what might have really gone amiss or been responsible for the sudden stoppage or indefinite unavailability of the service. This, according to QCell, will have an immediate and visible impact on the daily lives of people.

It is not also clear when the service will resume but a customer care agent of the company told this paper that customers will be notified whenever the service is available again.

Gambia: Hard Times Loom Large

As electricity, water and sewerage tariffs hike

 

The prices of electricity-related goods and services will soon skyrocket as the National Water and Electricity Company Limited has increased tariffs of electricity, water and sewerage, though both individuals and corporate consumers denounced the move initially.

With effect from 1 June this year, the tariffs of electricity, water and sewerage will increase across the board, for all consumers.

Tariffs for domestic electricity consumption will be increased from D7.20 to D9.10 per kilowatt, commercial usage of electricity will also be increased from D8.60 to D9.70 per kilowatt. Hotel, club and industrial uses of electricity will also hike from D8.95 to D10.40 per kilowatt.

 
Electricity uses for agriculture, the backbone of the Gambia economy, will also be increased from D8.00 to D9.70 per kilowatt.  The usage of electricity by area councils and central government will also be accelerated to D9.70 per kilowatt from D8.70.

In the same vein, the tariff for domestic water consumption will be increased from D10.40 to 13.83 per cubic metre, commercial usage of water will also be increased from D16.90 to D22.48 per cubic metre. Hotel, club and industrial uses of water will also hike from D24.01 to D31.93 per cubic metre.

Water uses for agriculture will also be increased from D7.80 to D10.37 per cubic metre. The usage of water by area councils will increase from D10.52 to 13.99 per cubic metre and central government will also be accelerated to D14.12 per cubic from D10.62.

NAWEC to dismiss some staff?

Some staff members of the National Water and Electricity Company might have their services terminated if the recommendation of an independent consultant brought in to assess the company’s fiscal discipline is approved.

The National Water and Electricity Company Limited has been asked to make redundant some 45 members of its staff following a staff audit of the company by “an independent consultant” to ascertain whether the financial-deficient state-owned company is overstaffed.

As part of the recommendations at the end of the assessment, the consultant says the public utilities provider should make redundant 45 staff, as it was discovered that the services of these people are “obsolete” and “can be outsourced” to save the heavily-indebted company some cost associated with salaries to retain much needed revenue.

 

To find out whether Nawec will heed the recommendation of the consultant and make redundant the 45 staff, when and which areas they are working within the Nawec units, Gambia News Online spoke with Nani Juwara, commercial director of the company, who said the report is an internal one and the recommendation is yet to be effected, hence prefers not to make any comment on it.

Gambia Postal Services to redundant some staff with NAWEC tariff increment

Some staff of the Gambia Postal Services (Gampost) may be redundant when the 33% tariff increment proposed by the National Water and Electricity Company (NAWEC) finally comes into effect.

Gampost Managing Director Momodou Ceesay has said if the proposed 33% tariff increment by NAWEC is effected, his institution, which pays huge electricity bill to the utility company, will be adversely affected and might lead to the laying-off of some his staff , or a passing-over  cost of it to users of his services.

Mr Momodou Ceesay, MD Gampost

Gampost currently pays D1million for electricity annually, which “is too high”, so an increase by 33% means an additional burden of D330,000 and a total cost of D1,330,000 the national postal service will have to be paying for electricity annually.

“Where do we get the additional D330,000,” the Gampost managing director asks rhetorically at a March 17 Public Hearing held this year at the Father Farell Hall at Westfield, organised by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) to gauge public comments on the proposed tariff increment by NAWEC to 33%  on electricity, water and sewerage services.

“So when the new tariff comes into effect, I have two options: either to increase the cost of postal services, or to reduce the number of staff,” the Gampost MD said. 

“If I opt for the latter, this will have negative impacts on my staff because there are other people who are depending on each of them given the fact that the dependency ratio in this country is high.”

Consumer associations condemn NAWEC’s proposed tariff increment

The Consumer Protection Consortium (CPC), formed by various consumer associations in The Gambia, has condemned the proposed tariff increment by NAWEC describing it as ‘a costly move’ that will make life difficult for people in the country.

“The proposed tariff increase, particularly that of electricity, will have a multiplier effect, as it would translate into higher operational cost for business which will in turn trigger a proportionate rise in the cost of basic goods and services,” Mr Alpha Jallow, a board member of CPC said.

Nawec has proposed to increase the tariff of water, electricity, and sewerage by 33% due to the rising cost of inputs such as fuel and lubricants.

However, though Mr Jallow said the CPC is concerned and acknowledges the plight of Nawec with regard to the current challenges of high operational costs due to rising cost of inputs, the tariff increment will have negative impact on the efforts of the government and consumer associations to stabilize prices of basic commodities to promote sustainable development. 

Electricity, water tariffs to further increase by 33 per cent

The National Water and Electricity Company Limited has proposed to further increase the current tariffs of electricity, water and sewerage services by 33 %, barely one year after the electricity tariff was increased by 16.50% for domestic consumption and19.44% for commercial usage.

Justifying this unpopular move, NAWEC explained that it current tariffs are not sufficient to sustain their operational obligations due to rising cost of inputs such as fuel, lubricants, and spare parts.

Most of the people said the current tariff for electricity in the country “is already high” to be increased, but NAWEC insists that its current tariffs not being sufficient to sustain the company’s operational obligations.  As a result, NAWEC said, they have since resorted to short term borrowing from commercial banks at exorbitant cost and the repayment of investment loans, which is also putting the company under enormous financial stress.

In this vein, the company has filed an application for an upward review of its tariffs to the Public Authority Regulatory Authority (PURA), a multi-sector utilities regulator, including NAWEC offered services.  Accordingly, PURA, as part of its mandate to balance the interest of both the consumers and public utilities, is to stage another Public Hearing on 17^th March at Father Pharrel Hall in Westfield. 

Consumer Parliament: Questions rain down on NAWEC

At the forth consumer parliament recently held in Banjul, more than 90 per cent of the questions were directed to the National Water and Electricity Company Limited and most of the questions were based on the frequent un-notified electricity outage in the country.

NAWEC staff present at the forum were under fire as questions came from different corners of the hall as soon as the moderator of the event, Peter Gomez, declared the floor opened for questions to the services providers.

The consumer parliament was organized by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) to bring consumers of communications, electricity, water and sewerage services face-to-face with the operators to express their views, concerns and complaints to them. The forum, held in Banjul, was the fourth of its kind.

The issue of NAWEC has been a pain in the neck of many Gambians, both corporate and ordinary people as the frequent un-notified power outage in the country has left a bad taste in the mouth of many people.

'NAWEC SPENDS MILLIONS OF GAMBIAN TAXPAYERS’ MONEY IN VAIN'

Hon. Sellu Bah

The huge amount of Gambia’s taxpayers’ money spent by the National Water and Electricity Company on the Rural Electrification Project (REP) seems to have gone down the drain as most of the generators are damaged due to poor maintenance, says Basse National Assembly Member Sellu Bah.

“Millions of dalasis or dollars [spent on the REP] have gone down in vain,” Hon. Bah said while seconding three motions tabled before Parliament by the Minister of Finance on Tuesday during a half-day long extra-ordinary meeting of the National Assembly in the 2011 legislative session.  

The total cost of the REP was estimated at US$22.3 million (GMD 223 million) of which $19 million (GMD 190 million) is to be externally funded by the African Development Bank, BADEA and the Islamic Development Bank. The remaining amount is to be funded locally by NAWEC in local currency - the Dalasi.

NAWEC dwells in financial turmoil

Gambia government ministries, the parastatals and some influential economic operators in the country have dipped NAWEC into a financial difficulty by accumulating huge bills payable to the national utility company over a long period of time.

The financial situation of the National Water and Electricity Company is in jeopardy and disorder as the government and its parastatals, as well as some private institutions and individuals, continue to consume NAWEC’s services “without paying adequately” for them thereby accumulating tens of millions of dalasis due to the utility company.

As at 21 June this year, NAWEC is owed over two billion dalasis by the above-mentioned institutions. Eleven government ministries, as well as the Office of the President, have consumed a total of over thirty-two million one hundred and twenty thousand dalasis (D32,120,000) worth of NAWEC services such as electricity and water, which is yet to be paid, according to a recent release by NAWEC. 
The Ministry of Defence has the highest debt among the lot.

Government-related accounts and parastatals, including the national broadcaster - GRTS, the Green Industries, and the Presidential Villa, also owe NAWEC a total of more than fifty million dalasis (D50,000,000).  GRTS alone owes over fourteen million dalasis (D14,000,000) to NAWEC.

The seven area councils in the country put together owes NAWEC over one hundred and twenty-five million three and seventy-six thousand dalasis (D125,376,000), of which Brikama Area Council owes the highest.  Some private institutions and individuals including Amadou Samba, Mustapha Njie, Ocean Bay Hotel, Kanilai Farms, and Taf Constructions owe NAWEC almost eleven million dalasis (D11,000,000).
 

NAWEC tariff increment: Three sides to the story

The National Water and Electricity Company Limited (NAWEC) has finally succeeded in lobbying for an increment in its electricity tariff despite rejection to such a move by 98 per cent of the people who attended the recent public hearing convergence organised by PURA to gauge comments on the tariff increment. Pics: From L to R, Messrs. Jallow and Jagne, MD of NAWEC and Chairman of PURA, respectively . The Gambia Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) has approved, with modification, the proposed tariffs increment that they received from NAWEC on 27 December 2010. With effect from 1 April this year, the tariff on electricity will increase across the board, for all shades of consumers. Tariff for domestic electricity consumption will be increased from D6.18 to D7.20 per kilowatt, representing 16.50 per cent increment; commercial usage of electricity will also be increased from D7.20 to D8.60 per kilowatt, representing 19.44 per cent increment. Hotel, club and industrial uses of electricity will also hike from D7.65 to D8.95 per kilowatt, representing 16.99 per cent increment. Electricity uses for agriculture, the backbone of the Gambia economy, will also be increased from D7.20 to D8.00 per kilowatt, representing 11.11 per cent increment. The usage of electricity by area councils and central government will also be accelerated to D8.70 per kilowatt from D7.20, representing 20.83 per cent increment. Pic: Mr. Alagi Gaye, Director General of PURA The new development of tariff increment on electricity has sparked fear and worries for consumers in the country. Many people, ranging from private individuals to proprietors, entrepreneurs and potential investors across the length and breadth of the greater Banjul area who have spoken to our reporters following the latest increment on electricity tariff for various categories of consumers, have expressed deep concern over the looming situation of hiked electricity tariff. A pain in their neck, they say, is fast becoming the order of day, regarding electricity bill. Tombong Saidy of AMRA Consulting says the current tariff for electricity in the country “is already high” to be increased. The average people in the country are struggling to pay as it is now, so increasing the tariff will logically deny those people electricity, which is a basic need, argues Mr Saidy. “Any increment on tariffs of electricity, water and sewerage will affect the poor people whose income is very low. They will not be able to solve their family problems much more the cost of electricity, water or sewerage,” he said. Considering the huge debt the Gambia government and area councils owe NAWEC - D302 million and D118 million respectively, Momodou Jallow of GRTS TV said NAWEC should have thought again before increasing tariffs. “What you need to do is to pursue these people to pay their debts,” he said. “If NAWEC raises the tariffs now and people cannot pay, what will happen,” he asks rhetorically. PURA, the national regulatory body for utilities, including electricity, water and sewerage, received an application on 27 December 2010 from NAWEC for an increase of current electricity, water and sewerage tariffs by 37%, 25% and 26% respectively. According to PURA, the application was reviewed in accordance with Section 13 (1) b of the PURA Act 2001 and specifically Section 18 of the Electricity Act 2005 which states: “the Authority may in accordance with the provisions of the Regulatory Act determine, review, approve, modify or refuse the tariff and the terms and conditions of service provided by licensees.” Before approving the impending increment of electricity tariff, PURA says it took into consideration the need to balance the interest of all stakeholders whilst at the same time ensuring that the procedures set out and due consultation with all stakeholders were adhered to. It says it relies upon the principle that NAWEC has little or no control over the cost of utilities, such as fuel and energy payments to the Independent Power Producer (IPP), which are fully absorbed in the tariff in accordance with international best practice. PURA’s modification of NAWEC’s proposed increase of 37% in electricity tariff was “based on the fact that it would not reflect optimal operational efficiency and would pass excessive electricity network losses and water leakages to consumers”.  It however says it will ensure modified tariffs reflect their true cost. NAWEC’s proposed tariffs increment for water and sewerage services by 25% and 26% respectively were, however, not approved by PURA, for “social reasons”. One of the reasons put forth by NAWEC to justify the tariff increment is that the company will hardly raise the financial resources needed to provide the required utilities if tariffs remain unchanged. “The current revenue base of NAWEC is not enough to sustain the company’s operational obligations, which has resulted in the company going in for short term borrowing from commercial banks at exorbitant cost,” NAWEC Finance Director Alhagie Jallow said. He says the company is currently undergoing extreme financial difficulties due to its ever-increasing cost of light and heavy fuel and lubricants, cost of energy purchased from the Independent Power Producer (IPP), and high cost of running the corporation. However, during the public hearing a businessman called Lamin Sanneh of Serrekunda said:  “As far as I am concerned, NAWEC has no tangible justification for increasing the tariffs of electricity, water and sewerage. What they have highlighted are the problems they are facing; let them find other ways to solve them.” However, the NAWEC finance director said if anyone thinks the tariff for electricity is expensive, “just buy a generator and be using it for one month, then come and tell us how much money you spend. It will be more than that of NAWEC’s bill. All are trying to do is to call on the public to reason with us and give us the necessary support and we will also give them what they want.” Mr Jallow said NAWEC plans to replace all post-paid meters with pre-paid ones. “In that way we will reduce our arrears and then get our money upfront to be able to sustain our operations,” he said. The increased tariff for electricity has crossed the affordability level for average Gambians, many people who spoke to MarketPlace said. The resulting effect of the increment will be difficult to fathom as its consequences will affect cost of production and inflate prices of essential commodities and services, which lead to a high cost of living for the country’s populace. The fundamental necessities of life such as food, household activities and education will be difficult to afford as the effects of the electricity bill hikes continue to hit hard. When the increase is effected, businesses will have to push their prices up. This applies to prices of commodities in general, since electricity is a prerequisite in the manufacturing of goods. Industrial activities in the country are likely to be skew thanks to the electricity tariff increment. The hike will also negatively impact on employment opportunities, affecting both employers and employees. Businesses have already been hit hard by the world recession and fuel hikes and the new tariff will lead to inflation if not hyperinflation. NAWEC needs to invest more into research to find alternative energy sources that are cost efficient and affordable, a concerned citizen says. “This implies that various avenues need to be explored to make use of other energy sources that are non-conventional,” he said. For instance, the cost of electricity generation through hydropower is only 10 per cent compared to that of thermal power that NAWEC uses. Oil based thermal power, the most expensive of the current options, should be minimised, the people say.

NAWEC loses over D761M in three years

By Lamin Jahateh,  Banjul The National Water and Electricity Company Limited (NAWEC) has incurred an operational lost of more than seven hundred and sixty-one million dalasis (D761 million) from 2008 to 2010, which impeded the revenue base of the company and affects its operational obligations. In 2008, the company registered over D363 million losses and in 2009 the losses reduced to D68million. “This only shows how the vagaries in the prices of oil impact on the finances of NAWEC,” said Alhagie Jallow, Finance Director of the sole company that provides electricity, water and sewerage services in The Gambia. Pic: Mr. Jallow, Managing Director, NAWEC Justifying this loss, Mr Jallow said: “It was in 2008 we witnessed the global financial and economic crisis and many institutions, the world over, sought for assistance from their governments and they got a bailout package. Unfortunately for NAWEC we have not got any bailout package. Nonetheless we have a responsibility to ensure that our key institutions are protected and sustained if we are to forge ahead in developing this country. In 2009 as the prices of oil started going down, our losses also decreased from D363 in 2008 to D68 million in 2009. “We expect that our 2010 losses will increase to D330 million and that is precisely because the prices of oil in the international market started to increase from 2009 going to 2010 and still going further into 2011.” Due to these huge losses, NAWEC is encountering difficulties to pay its suppliers. In 2008 and 2010 the company owed its major suppliers over D378 million and D830 million respectively. The company’s Finance Director has therefore pleaded with the people to approve NAWEC’s proposed tariffs in order to remedy this situation. “If our tariffs remain the same couple with the vagaries in the prices of oil and volatility in exchange rates, then we will have a problem and that problem would only be resolved if the related cost can be passed to consumers,” he said. He continued:  “Though we all know that not all cost can be passed to consumers, those that can be passed to consumers will be defined and passed to them to ensure the sustainability of the company. “Those cost which could not be passed to consumers should obviously be paid for. Who should pay for them also should be identified, but if we don’t it means somehow, somewhere somebody will be taking it up and NAWEC is most of the time owing the suppliers but the suppliers also can go to a certain extent and there will come a time they will say ‘enough is enough’ and they will close their taps, then everybody will sit down and say ‘NAWEC amut oil’  (NAWEC has no oil), then all the lights will be off and everybody will be in darkness and then who knows what follows. We don’t want to get to that point.” While trying to convince people that NAWEC should increased its tariffs for the services they provided, Mr Jallow said the ever-increasing prices of oil coupled with the stagnant tariffs has negatively impacted on the finances of NAWEC. “To give you a background of how the increasing prices of oil has impacted on the finances of NAWEC,” he explained,  “the minimum price per barrel for crude oil between November 12th 2010 and February 4th 2011 was $81.70 and that picked up to $95.71 and, as we speak, the cost has increased further to $100 plus.  This is the situation that we have been facing over the last few years.  Under normal circumstances, if such situation occurs some cost should be past to consumers, any excess amount that should be past to consumers should normally be subsidized for.” NAWEC is proposing to increase tariffs of the different services they provide. “Our tariffs had been virtually stagnant over the period since January 2009 through to December 2010, whereas the heavy fuel that we use at the Kotu Power Station picked up from July 2009 increasing right through to December 2010 and this is continuing,” he said. “The same thing goes for the light fuel, which we mainly use in the provinces to generate electricity.  The price per litre of light fuel is well over D30 as we speak.” Provincial operations are not profitable The Managing of NAWEC, Mr Momodou Jallow says electricity generation in the provinces is not profitable. “The provincial operations are most of the time not profitable - this is not specific to The Gambia,” he added. “Nonetheless, NAWEC has a responsibility to provide social services, including electricity, not only in the Greater Banjul Area but also in the provinces and of course given that the generators there use light fuel, which is more expensive to generate electricity, makes it profitable to generate electricity in the provinces.”

NAWEC refutes claim that Gambia have highest electricity tariff

by Lamin Jahateh, Banjul NAWEC have disapproved the notion that Gambia have the highest electricity tariff in the sub-region. “Countries like Burkina Faso, Mali, and Liberia have higher electricity tariff than The Gambia,” said Mr. Jallow, the Finance Director of NAWEC. He said most of the time when people said that electricity tariff in The Gambia is high compared to other countries in the sub-region, what they don’t tell other people is that the sources of production of electricity are different from country to country. “If you take Ghana, for instance, where they use hydro to generate electricity which is far cheaper in terms cost of production you cannot compare that to a thermal power plant such as the one we used in The Gambia and naturally our cost of production will not be the same,” Mr. Jallow said. He continued: “Just to give you a simple example, if you have a bottle (0.5 Liter) of water costing D10, but if you put NAWEC water inside the bottle you cannot charge the same price and there is a good reason for that.  The company that bottled this water have cost that they incurred before getting the water into the bottle and for them to be able to remain in business the least they could price for the bottle is their cost and of course to make further investment to expand they need to add some margin to the cost of production. So naturally that is why they price the 0.5 liter bottle at D10, if you put NAWEC water in the bottle you cannot sell it to anybody for D10 because that is not the cost to NAWEC.  So this is a simple analogy, so if people are comparing let say electricity tariff in Gambia to Ghana they have to understand what the sources of production is and the cost related to that,” NAWEC is mandated for the provision of electricity, water and sewerage service in The Gambia.  As a public enterprise NAWEC has not operated on a commercial basis in the sense that both water and the provinces are subsidised by the Electricity Division. Although NAWEC has achieved financial sustainability for its normal operations, it still lacks the resources to properly expand the electricity system. Due to this the system is ill equipped to satisfy the growing demand and needs substantial investment for maintenance and expansion.

Public rejects NAWEC’s proposed tariffs increment

Lamin Jahateh, Banjul Most of the people at PURA’s Public Hearing held on Saturday at Father Farrell Hall in Westfield vehemently condemned the proposed tariff increase by National Water and Electricity Company Limited (NAWEC), the sole provider of electricity, water and sewerage services in The Gambia. The Public Hearing, which was organized by the Gambia Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA), was meant to obtain public comment on an application that they (PURA) received from NAWEC to increase the current tariffs of electricity, water and sewerage services. “PURA received an application from NAWEC on 27th December 2010 for an increase in electricity, water and sewerage tariffs,” said Mr Maleh Saine, Officer-In-Charge of PURA. Pic: DoDou Bammy Jagne, Chairman PURA Board of Commissioners He explained that PURA Act 2001 and the Electricity Act 2005 mandated PURA to consult with all stakeholders on matter of such importance and sensitivity that affect both the operator and the consumer.  “Initial consultations have also been held with Central Government, industrial and commercial consumers,” he said. Mr Saine said PURA is mandated specifically under Section 18 of the Electricity Act 2005 which states that “the Authority may in accordance with the provisions of the Regulatory Authority Act determines, review, approve, modify or refuse the tariff and the terms and conditions of the service provided by licensees.” “Through hearing your views it will enable us to arrive at a proper decision in ensuring that we have available, affordable and accessible services in respect of electricity water and sewerage services,” said Mr Dodou Bammy Jagne, the Chairman of PURA Board of Commissioners. Mr. Alhagie Jallow, Finance Director of NAWEC, said the company is proposing certain prices for the different services; for Greater Banjul Area (GBA) “we are proposing 36% increment for electricity, 26% for water, and 27% for sewerage.” He said the objective of NAWEC is to provide affordable electricity, water and sewerage services to Gambian peoples.  “We know if we are to charge very high prices, under normal circumstance, it will not be affordable, and the objective of providing these basic services is to make it available and affordable to the people who are going to use them,” he explained. When the Moderator of the occasion, Mr Peter Gomez, opened the floor for comments and questions relevant to the proposed tariff increase from the people, one speaker after the other strongly condemned the tariffs increment, but NAWEC said they are left with no other option given the ever increasing cost of both light and heavy fuel and lubricants, increasing cost of energy purchased from the Intermittent Power Producer (IPP), and high of cost labour and maintenance. NAWEC officials said if the company is to remain in operation, they have to increase the tariff because “the current revenue base of the company is not able to sustain the company’s operational obligations resulting them to short term borrowing from commercial banks at exorbitant cost.” Later on, as the program was coming to an end, the Moderator announced that those who are in support of the proposed tariff increase to raise their hand, but unfortunately, only two people raised their hands in support of the increment. The comments and concerns of the people are to be incorporated for due consideration in accordance with Section 20(C) of the Electricity Act in making a final determination. The Public Hearing is the sixth of the nine steps that PURA is to take before final tariffs come into effect. However, shortly after the Hearing many people who spoke to Marketplace said that NAWEC has already reached a decision to increase the tariff, “so whether the people agree to it or not it will be increased, this is just a formality”, Ousman Gibba said.  “I know they will increase, but if they do that it is going to affect average Gambians, because many people are already struggling to pay for the current tariff as it is,” said Demba Jarju. The last three steps before the new tariffs come into force is for PURA to take a decision with regard to the increment, publish the new tariff, and finally the tariff come into force. Given the fact that the proposed tariffs increment was received with a strong condemnation from the general public will PURA give NAWEC the go ahead to increase the tariffs?