Utility Tariffs: Nobody Should Attempt To "Bamboozle" Us - Kwesi Pratt

Kwesi Pratt Jnr. has condemned the new utility tariffs increment announced by the Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC). The PURC announced 59.2% and 67.2% increments in electricity and water respectively on Monday. The changes will however, take effect from December 14 this year. Addressing the issue on Kokrokoo on Peace FM, the Managing Editor of the Insight newspaper bemoaned the decision by the PURC stressing that the increments are a means of compounding the plight of Ghanaians. Mr. Pratt explained that due to the economic hardships, several Ghanaians have been left unemployed while others have had incurred costs in their business operations as a result of the challenges confronting the economy; primarily the energy and water sectors. He noted that increasing tariffs is not the right solution to improving the economy. He further wondered why the PURC would be so inconsiderate towards Ghanaians and opt to increase tariffs at this particular time; the festive month. He strongly believed the tariff increases will not reduce cost of production in the energy and water sectors. “Cost of production is not God-given. Cost of production can be varied dependent on your level of efficiency; dependent of your practice and so on. You can bring down cost of production. So, nobody should attempt to bamboozle us with the cost of production of any utility. It is not an important factor (you understand) because you can bring down cost of production.” To him, until the utility providers take necessary actions to ensure that institutions owing them pay up their debt; the problems will linger on even if individuals honour their side of the bargain. He asked what exactly PURC is doing to ensure that Volta Aluminum Company (VALCO) defrays its electricity bills. “Will VALCO be paying its electricity bills? If VALCO does not pay its electricity and all Ghanaians pay 100 per cent of the so-called cost of production, there will still be a deficit. Am I the cause of the deficit? Am I the person who said we should supply VALCO electricity, knowing fully well that VALCO is not in a position to pay for its electricity?” he questioned.

Source: Adu Gyamfi Ameyaw/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana