Posted by By Bekai Njie
The outgoing chairman of the Kanifing Municipal Council’s Interim Committee has disclosed that KMC is owing NAWEC over D103, 000, 000.
Bakary Jammeh made this revelation as new Mayor Talib Ahmed Bensouda was sworn-in on Monday. Mr. Jammeh said this debt is putting serious constrains on the proper functioning and service delivery of the council and therefore needs urgent attention.
NAWEC has disconnected 30 public street taps due to the non-payment of bills by the council, he said, adding that 10 taps are currently reconnected under community management. “KMC is a challenged institution as the council is faced with numerous difficulties in the execution of its mandate. My committee discovered that the management, financial administration and service delivery of the council were very week.” he stated.
Mr. Jammeh noted that the effective management of waste as well as the execution of other public services continue to be unsatisfactory due to a lack of trust by the residents of the municipality in their council.
“Currently, the council is mainly providing the following services within the municipality. Being the most densely populated municipality in the country, solid waste management remains a major challenge hampering sustainable development.”
He added that seven out of twenty eight vehicles under the department’s fleet are currently on the road due to, old fleet of vehicles and equipment purchased in 2014; poor culture of maintenance of the fleet; lack of capacity and tools at the in-house garage.
He emphasized that the Bakoteh dumpsite remains the biggest challenge to the council, saying the site is in a critical situation posing serious threat to the lives of residents and even passers-by.