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News and Events

  • 30 November 2021
  • By MOPE

WAPP_SOP_Grievance Mechanism_clean

DEFINITION OF CONCEPTS AND TERMINOLOGY

The definitions below can be helpful for understanding the Grievance Mechanism.

1 Complaint or Grievance: Complaints or grievances are an expression of dissatisfaction or discontent stemming from a real or perceived impact of a company's business activities. Complaints can range from commonly occurring, relatively minor problems to more entrenched or serious ones that have the potential to become a source of significant resentment. When people present a complaint to the company, they generally expect to receive a specific response or resolution. The terms complaint and grievance are used interchangeably in this document, without presuming differences in scale, complexity or seriousness

Claim: An expression of dissatisfaction that explicitly or implicitly includes a request for action by a complainant. This more or less explicitly requested action can be reparation for damage suffered and/or corrective action. In the context of the Regional Solar Park (RSP) project, a claim is any contention by a stakeholder about the said project in relation to the damage caused during the implementation of the activities with a view to restoring the right and/or repairing it. Complaint: A complaint or grievance is defined as an expression of dissatisfaction with the level or quality of an action or inaction, directly or indirectly expressing dissatisfaction to an individual or group of people with the implementation of a project. Grievances are directly related to project activities.

Beneficiaries and other stakeholders, mainly affected people, have the right to complain if agreed standards and/or agreements are not respected or in case of a negative impact of the project interventions. Any complaint received requires a response. The structure that receives it has the duty to respond to the complainant(s) within a known time frame. Collection tools and a typology of complaints are defined and managed by the responsible structure.

 A complaint is also an expression of dissatisfaction that relates to the actions of the project or on the part of an individual, a group of individuals or an organization that is detrimental to the project and that directly or indirectly causes anguish to the beneficiary(ies).

Concern: Concerns are questions, requests for information, or general perceptions unrelated to a specific impact or incident.

 If not addressed to the satisfaction of the complainant, concerns may become complaints. Although concerns do not have to be registered as formal complaints, they should be noted in an appropriate management system so that emerging trends can be identified and addressed before they escalate. Conflict/Dispute: This is the observation of opposition between two or more people or entities who have differing ideas or opinions and where the expectations of some are often at odds with the expectations of others. Conflict is charged with emotions such as anger, frustration, fear, sadness, resentment, and disgust. Sometimes it can be made of aggression and violence. Closed Complaint:

A complaint that has been received and for which no further action is required (for which the proposed solutions have been implemented). Entreaties: Requests in terms of wishes expressed by the populations affected by the project. Although not constituting complaints, grievances should be treated with particular care.

MOPE HOLDS VALIDATION WORSHOP FOR THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY DRAFT BILL

The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy hosted a validation workshop on the energy efficiency Law(bill) on May 18th 2023 at Tamala Beach Hotel. This workshop brought together relevant stakeholders from various ministries and organizations to discuss and dissect the bill.

Energy is a vital ingredient for the socioeconomic development of any country. Cognizant of this, the government of The Gambia, over the past years has been making significant efforts to provide reliable, adequate, affordable and sustainable energy services to its people. The successful implementation of the Energy efficiency bill is of great importance and a priority to the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy and to all stakeholders.

The formulation of the Energy efficiency bill is supported by World Bank Group and drafted by consultants from the Economic Consulting Associates (ECA) through the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy to develop and implement a comprehensive energy efficiency program for the country.

In the opening ceremony Mr. Matarr Touray, an Energy Specialist from World Bank, spoke on the numerous benefits of energy efficiency especially with the changing electricity tariffs and fluctuating exchange rates. Mr. Touray stated “The law has been developed to inherently feature local context and the development of a robust institutional framework to address pertinent issues as it relates to energy efficiency, these include issues of gender mainstreaming, financing mechanisms and data to ensure that the bill is adequately and appropriately imbedded within the sector”.

In her opening remarks, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, Mrs Amie Njie Joof illuminated on the inefficient use of energy in our day to day lives, like leaving lights and air conditioners on in empty rooms, inefficient practices like these need to be curbed to ensure sustainable use of electricity.

The Permanent Secretary highlighted on the fact that resources are scares and that electricity is not provided to every community in the country, has resulted in the formulation of the policy on energy efficiency and conservation, which promotes the efficient and wise use of energy by every user, to save energy for use by others. As the saying goes, “energy saved is energy produced”.

 PS Njie also added that “since the promulgation of policies on energy efficiency and conservation as part of the National Energy Policy, numerous activities have been carried out on energy efficiency and conservation throughout the country.  Other activities include sensitization on energy efficiency and conservation, replacement of incandescent bulbs with LED bulbs and the promotion and distribution of improved cookstoves and rolling out the National Framework for Leapfrogging to Energy Efficient and Climate Friendly air Conditioners and Refrigerators Project. This project is intended to enhance energy efficiency in the country and ultimately reduce greenhouse gas emissions”.

The Permanent Secretary in her conclusion indicated that the Energy Efficiency Bill once enacted into law, will serve as the bedrock for the country’s energy management system in the country.