Residents of the community of Manjai
By Fatou Sillah
The residents of Manjai are voicing serious concerns over the persistent issue of unreliable electricity. For over five years, they have been grappling with inconsistent power supply due to a faulty transmitter. Despite numerous reports to NAWEC, the problem remains unresolved.
After multiple attempts to engage with NAWEC’s management, the community has now turned to the media to highlight their struggles. They report that frequent power outages have caused significant damage to their homes and are calling on both the government and NAWEC to address the issue.
Asta Cham, a resident of Manjai, shared her frustrations with the press:
“Today we are not happy, and we haven’t been happy for years. We, the people of Manjai, are tired. Every day at 9 PM, the lights go off, and our TVs are damaged. President Barrow, we campaigned and voted for you as our leader. Help the people of Manjai because we are tired; we can’t live in a community without water and electricity,” she said.
Pa Malick Mbye, another resident, explained that the issue has persisted for several years:
“For the past three years, we have been facing electricity issues. The main problem is not NAWEC turning off the power supply, but our transmitter. Many community members have discussed this with NAWEC, and they told us the area is overpopulated, and the transmitter has problems. When the transmitter goes off, we don’t have electricity from 9 PM to sometimes 12 AM,” he said.
Aji Kura Jobe added, “The whole country has electricity except for us because our transmitter has a problem. We have complained to various places, but nothing has been done. We, the people of Manjai, are tired. We never had a reliable water supply, and now we don’t have stable electricity,”
Gifty Chapman and other residents are urging the government and NAWEC to resolve the situation:
“We are urging the government and NAWEC to help us and remedy the situation. We are tired, and this is serious. We have children here,” she pleaded.