By Chernor Alimamy Kamara
The Director of Finance and Administration at the Sierra Leone Electricity Water Regulatory Commission (SLEWRC) has said that the commission did not receive the allocated sum of money from the government of Sierra Leone for the running of the institution for the fiscal years 2021 and 2022.
Speaking during the annual budget hearing at the Ministry of Finance in Freetown last Friday, Fatu Theresa Kanneh explained that for the financial year 2022, the commission budgeted NLE 1.549 million (One million, five hundred and forty-nine thousand New Leones) for recurrent expenditure but that NLE 911,000 (Nine hundred and eleven thousand New Leones) was approved and allocated to them.
However, she noted that the said approved sum was not disbursed to the commission.
Meanwhile, as of 31st August 2022, she said they only received NLE 1.8M (One million, eight hundred thousand New Leones) as Salary Grant from the government whilst their Internally Generated Income (IGI) amounted to NLE 1.2 million (One million, two hundred thousand New Leones).
She went on to note that for the fiscal year 2021 also, the commission budgeted NLE 2.037 million (Two million and thirty-seven thousand New Leones) out of which NLE 954,000 (Nine hundred and fifty-four thousand New Leones) was approved but that nothing was disbursed to the commission.
However, she said they received NLE 3.8 million (three million, eight hundred thousand New Leones) as Salary Grant and that they generated two million, three hundred thousand New Leones (NLE 2.3 million).
Kanneh pointed out that despite not receiving money from the government, they achieved key deliverables for FY 2021, such as the finalization of the Electricity Grid Code which was then presented to the Energy Minister. She said they also finalized the Water Code and presented it to the Minister of Water Resources.
She stated that SLEWRC has sanitized the sachet water industry through robust monitoring and enforcement actions which resulted in increased licenses and quality service. She disclosed that they were able to institute enforcement measures against sixty-four (64) non-complying water companies which she said brought an increase in licensing by water sector operators.
“We have granted 103 licenses for packaged water operators and 17 licenses for electricity operators,” she said.
She went on to say that, they made a Customer Satisfaction Survey for Guma Valley Water Company (GVWC) which showed that most areas in the east end of Freetown go without water supply during the dry season.
She spoke about ongoing work on the water Lab that is expected to be completed soon.
For FY 2023 she highlighted the commission’s Strategic Plan which is developed from its five-year Organizational Development Plan (ODP) 2023-2027, which includes strengthening of SLEWRC’s organizational capacity. She also said that the ODP will ensure that utility tariffs are based on the efficient cost of service and the quality of service should also be comparable to international standards.
She spoke of challenges such as lack of financial independence unlike what obtains with other regulators across the world that are financially independent.
She also said that there is also deliberate non-compliance in terms of payment of levies. Kanneh also highlighted the lack of sufficient finances to support their activities.
However, she noted the expansion of the commission in Makeni in the north, with plans of further expansion to Kenema in the east.
Copyright © 2022 Politico Online (03/10/22)
