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The people of The Gambia have been urged to embrace energy conservation in order to promote and eventually achieve energy efficiency,
which is vital in this period of high energy costs.
This call was made by Babucarr Jallow, who spoke on behalf of the Ministry of Energy at a national sensitization campaign on energy efficiency and conservation, held at the Kanifing Municipal Council grounds recently.
Mr. Jallow, in his opening statement, stressed the need for Gambians to use energy efficiently and sensibly, pointing to new developments in energy saving technology such as the CFL bulb, as a way of achieving energy conservation. This, he said, is what makes the sensitization exercise so necessary.
“In The Gambia, all electricity is produced from oil based products such as heavy fuel oil and diesel and in this era of high oil prices, these represent the most expensive forms of electricity generation. It is imperative that we put in place a succinct and effective system to efficiently and effectively manage the electricity produced. The management system on the demand side, using our electrical appliances and devices is therefore very important in ensuring that the energy produced is used wisely and efficiently,” he said. He added that the overall objective of government’s energy policy is the provision of the most reliable, efficient and least costly energy services to the entire population.
Jallow went on to say that this is in line with the ideals of Vision 2020. And he stressed that to achieve sufficient levels of electricity supply requires huge investments to secure the necessary infrastructure needed in generation, transmission and distribution.
Describing electricity as one of the most important forms of energy in The Gambia in particular and the world in general, Mr. Jallow emphasized the role it plays in our daily lives.
“Electricity is the most convenient form of energy because it can be used to power all forms of demand like water pumping, cooking, factories and production plants, transportation and so on. It is therefore the ‘the engine that drives the economy’ – engine of growth,” he concluded.
