The Managing Director of the Sierra Leone Water Company (SALWACO) has disclosed that his management has embarked on a lot of institutional reforms since he took up office. Ing. George Lamin Vandi was speaking during an exclusive interview at the SALWACO Head Office in Freetown. He said that one of his key aims is to ensure that the institution delivers in a manner that is very sustainable, adding that effective project implementation has been a central part of his administrative policies.

Ing. Vandi disclosed that in achieving appreciable institutional aspirations, the management of SALWACO has embarked on what he referred to as the massive decentralization of project implementation, noting that the institution’s various Station Managers have now been given a mandate of being Project Engineers for various projects. He said that there was also now a hierarchy in organizational relationships and that the institution was also now effectively relating with all District Councils across the country.

He added that the establishment of a new Project Management Department, with the requisite staff has also sent a signal that SALWACO was now  moving towards a new, different and result oriented direction. All of such, he said, are geared towards ensuring that the institution’s current, medium and long term plans are realized in time. He spoke on how there used to be a backlog of irregular staff, furthering that such used to pose a great financial burden towards the functionality of the institution, but added that with effective management at all levels at present, all of such challenges were now a thing of the past.

The SALWACO MD stated that the institution is also now at the verge of establishing a Help Desk, which will have Common Numbers and act as a Central Point of Contact, at no cost. He said that such sing point of entry will add up to the institution’s public accessibility. He said that there is now absolute sanity in Project Implementation, citing the Bonthe Island Water Supply Project as a clearer case in point.

He added that all of such reforms speak to the fact that the current SALWACO management is very determined in ensuring that tasks and functions are effectively and efficiently undertaken. Ing. Vandi added that with more capacity development and the required staffing, the institution will continue to do well in its strides.

He therefore called on Government through the Ministry of Finance to continue to give more support to SALWACO as an institution, noting that the relevance of such support cannot be overstated. He added that management is also working towards the establishment of Pre-Paid Meters so as to minimize the various losses that the institution normally run at, noting that such could also help to ensure the issues of debts become a thing of the past. He said that human activities like mining and deforestation could have some telling effects on the environment and that such could affect some of the SALWACO operations.

He therefore appealed for massive collaboration and reasonability with all major stakeholders and parties involved so as to maximize institutional effectiveness. With the lot of funds from Government in the Water Sector, Ing. Lamin Vandi said that more would be achieved if all hands were on the same deck.

Ing. Vandi ended by thanking President Bio for giving him the opportunity to serve and called on all SALWACO members of staff to continue to work towards achieving positive results.

 

FROM: Communications Unit, Sierra Leone Water Company (SALWACO)