The Sierra Leone Electricity and Water Regulatory Commission (SLEWRC) is established to formulate, implement, monitor quality and compliance, provide tariff guidelines, licenses and implement regulatory frameworks for the safe, secure, affordable and reliable supply of water and electricity in Sierra Leone. Over the weekend, the Commission engaged the Sierra Leone Water Company (SALWACO) on license terms and conditions.
Addressing relevant parties at the commission’s Berwick Street office, the Director General, Tamba Kellie, said, “We are here to consider two documents… The first is water supply and production licenses. It is in this document that your licenses are accredited. Everything we do is based on the power given to us by Parliament. Most of what is in the water production and supply licenses are extracts from the Act. This is what the Act requires us to do. For us to be able to do that we have to transmute them in to rules and regulations: these are the rules and regulations.”
He added, “The other document is the licenses and application rules. This deals with the manner, which you make your application, the application fee, the form of application, acknowledgment, publication of notice, objections and so forth.”
The DG further explained that all applications are published in a national newspaper and gazette so the public can comment if the company is fit to be given licenses or not.
“If your application is disapproved due to one reason or the other you have the right to appeal through a review committee which would consist of a High Court Judge and two practicing barristers. They are the heart of regulations because it’s what we monitor for companies compliance.”
Also noting that assessment of compliance “determines the continuity of licenses or whether we should revoke it.”
“Again it would tell us whether you are providing the actual quality services we are concerned about. If you are non-compliant it may impact on your tariff when you make the next tariff application. We might not allow you to increase tariff even if there is economic justification, simply because you failed to comply with the regulations set by the commission,” he said.
“The requirements we are asking you to provide is to ensure that consumers have quality service… we are not dabbling into your administration affairs… anything we put together is to meet that quality. We are here to simply maintain the balance between the consumers and the providers,” the DG said. He also pointed out that it is a “common approach and it is not unusual.”
In his technical presentation titled: ‘Schedule Requirements for applications of licenses’, SLEWRC Head of Water, Michael Kargbo, highlighted key prerequisites for licenses application such as general water system information, source water information, treatment and design information, transmission system information, distribution system information, operational plans, commercial and financial information to name but few.
The Commission’s Chairman, Zubairu Kaloko, explained, “Public utilities are not poor, however if it is effectively managed it could be a cash cow. You won’t need government money if you manage SALWACO well.” He said, “SALWACO is in a virgin territory…” pointing out that SALWACO is in a better position than Guma.
The Chairman encouraged them to expand their operations according to the guidelines setup by the commission. He urged them to develop depreciation allowances, register both company and facilities. If this country should go forward Guma and EDSA must succeed because it is these sectors that fosters economic development.
SALWACO Operations Manager, Abdul Labbie, questioned whether it is proper for the commission to set standards since it is a regulatory body. However it was explained to him that through regulations standards that led to service improvement as set in the process.
OG/22/8/17
By Ophaniel Gooding
Wednesday August 23, 2017.
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