These are the words of Mrs Fatou Sosseh Jallow, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Office of the Minister in charge of water of the Gambia. She spoke during the official ceremony of the establishment of the new Country Water Partnership of The Gambia (GCWP), on 20 December 2011. The launching workshop was held at the Paradise Suites Hotel in Banjul and brought together representatives of all stakeholders in the sector of water, including local elected councils.
The Chairman of the West African Water Partnership (GWP-WA), Mr. Hama Arba Diallo, who took part in the ceremony, said that now that The Gambia has its Partnership, it is the responsibility of stakeholders at country level to make it a viable and functional platform.
The Director of Water Resources of the Gambia, Mr. Pa Ousman Jarju recalled that it is in 2009 during the development process of the IWRM roadmap that the need for implementing a CWP was deemed necessary and since then GWP has followed and supported technically the process of its establishment.
The feasibility study done for the establishment of the GCWP highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of the country in the governance of water resources. The findings of the study were discussed and proposals made for its improvement and finalization.
The Gambia has developed and adopted its IWRM roadmap and has been able to have the support of the African Water Facility for its implementation for a total amount of 2.09 million Euros. The Director of water resources disclosed that the implementation of this roadmap will start early in 2012 and said that the government was ready to concede part of its implementation to the new CWP if it were able to be functional and viable.