Managing
Editor of the Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr., has expressed
disappointment in the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) and
the utility service providers in the country over the recent tariff
increment.
According to Mr. Pratt, the tariff increments are attempts to blackmail consumers.
He
said, in an interview with Radio Gold, that the indebtedness of the
service providers; particularly VALCO which, as revealed by Kwesi Pratt,
is indebted to the Volta River Authority (VRA) and GRIDCO to a tune of $
87 million, is a major contributing factor to the recent changes in the
utility tariffs.
Describing as "reckless" the increases in
utility tariffs, he debunked the notion that if the tariffs are not
increased, it will have a rippling effect on the electricity supply
resulting in load shedding, asserting that the explanations given by the
service providers are intended to throw dust into the eyes of
Ghanaians.
“The blackmail of the Ghanaian consumer is most
unfortunate. If you talk to the consumer and you say that look, if you
don’t pay these increased tariffs, you are going to have power
curtailment. Power supply is going to be disrupted and so on, as far as
I’m concerned; that amounts to blackmail...It is calculated to blackmail
the public and to deceive all of us.
“These increases are
extremely reckless. They are not justifiable under any circumstance. The
politicians in power should open their eyes on these technocrats. They
are letting them down. They’ve let every government down. They’ve let
the people of Ghana down," he exclaimed.
To him, the only
resolution to this challenge is to see a major improvement in the level
of efficiency in the activities of the utility service providers.
Meanwhile, the Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC), Wednesday, announced new tariffs at a press conference.
Consumers
of electricity and water will have to pay up to 78.9% and 52% more for
electricity and water respectively, effective October 1st.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment