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Tarrifs up? What for?

What did Ghanaians do wrong to merit the dirty slaps from the Public Utilities and Regulatory Commission (PURC) last week that have left us so badly concussed?

I have searched for answers as to why the gargantuan increase in water and electricity tariffs.  I believe the blame should rather be laid on the regulator, PURC, and the two service providers, Electricity Company of Ghana(ECG) and the Ghana Water Company Ltd. (GWCL).

The Ghanaian consumer’s only fault, if pressed for one, would be that Ghanaians would readily accept anything pushed down their throats without questioning, especially  if it is authority-related.  That is really how come consistently, we have had our electrical appliances destroyed time after time.   The erratic power outages have left our foods rotten in our refridgerators  and deep freezers .

Similarly, people have spent huge sums of money sinking boreholes in their homes and installing unsightly huge water storage tanks because water supply over the years by GWCL, the sole distributor of water, has been abysmal.   In the rural areas, children are missing school hours because they spend long hours each day in search of water.  Women are under daily pressure looking for water to run their homes.

We have failed to challenge why suppliers of these two critical services in this country have failed us so badly.  We have repeatedly accepted every excuse they give us when they realise the extent of their actions and inactions.  We have virtually accepted inefficiencies as normal and watch the providers enjoy the comforts and perks of their official positions.  It makes one wonder if they go through regular performance appraisals.

So, like the saying goes, ‘if you do not speak about your hair cut when the barber is at it, you would end up with an ugly cut’.  That is where Ghanaian consumers of water and electricity have found themselves now.

The news last Wednesday, that the PURC, the ultimate gate keepers in whose hands the fate of consumers of water and electricity are rested, had announced an increase in electricity and water tariffs, left me asking, “what for?”  Why on earth has the PURC burdened us with tariff increases of  78.9 percent for electricity and 52 percent for water?

Justifying the increases at a press conference in Accra last Wednesday, the Executive Secretary of the PURC said the commission took into consideration the social impact of certain categories of consumers who needed to be supported to ensure that such consumers were not overburdened.  What?  82.9 and 52 per cent  are not overburden?  Even for those who probably can afford, such quantum of increase is too much.

In reality, nothing is enough justification for the kind of services that consumers receive in return from both of the utility companies.  Erractic?  One would rate them 2000 per cent.  Substandard?  The mark for their performance would be 1,500 per cent.  There has not been much improvement in the services we keep getting.  So, why a justification, PURC?

So fresh in my mind, just last week in my area, we suffered day time power cuts on two occasions and one early evening.  We suffered one other the week before, at a time when I had work men in to do some work for me.  As if that was not enough, on Friday last week, our taps went dry from the morning till the following day.  Are these the kind of services we are being asked to support so they can do what they like doing best – inconveniencing consumers?

Much as we all love our country and would like to see the institutions work, we should be ready to reject those institutions that perpetually display ineptitude and lack of feeling for their consumers who continue to keep them in business.

Why should we listen to arguments on rising cost of imports that these two critical services depend on for production as a good enough reason to increase tariffs?  Many companies are also bringing in inputs at the same dollar exchange rate to produce and stay competitive. The critical question really is, are the utilities sourcing right for durable good quality imports  to do their work?

In two years, the ECG has replaced my electricity metre three times. The first change was the general switch from post-paid metres to pre-paid electronic cards.  Within a year, they came back to change it to electronic remote but still pre-paid.  Eight months later, my consumption was not registering on my receipts and when I complained, I was told the metre was faulty and needed to be changed.  My third one was fixed barely four weeks ago.  Cheap sourcing is the problem.

Earlier this year, we were told of some expired alum which was procured for the production of water at  the Weija water processing plant.  The Minister of Water Resources promised an investigation into the procurement.  We are still waiting to hear the results.

So, one gets the impression that the problems being visited on us by the utility services are managerial problems.  PURC as a regulator must tackle the seeming inefficiencies in the utilities with punitive measures against those who are running the institutions down.  Their sins should not be visited on the consumer.  We will pay for services that merit increased tariffs but not the type we are getting currently.

By Vicky Wireko/Daily Graphic/Ghana

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