ENFORCE THIS DIRECTIVE (APRIL 14, 2010)

ELECTRICITY and water are vital resources that make life comfortable for people everywhere, hence any challenge encountered in the provision of those utilities raises grave concerns.
In recent times, there have been discussions on proposals for tariff increases by the utility service providers in the country. Some of the proposed increases are quite high and, naturally, the issue has stirred intense debate, particularly among consumers.
While the utility providers have often received the flak for what some perceive to be operational ineptitude, there are still some who believe that the unbridled consumption of water and electricity is one of the major challenges facing the utility companies.
Thus, the directive by the government to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to fix prepaid meters in all ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) is, indeed, welcome.
Over the years, government’s indebtedness to the ECG has piled up and presently it is in the region of GH¢80 million. Such huge indebtedness is, no doubt, a contributory factor to the difficult financial situation the ECG presently finds itself in.
The government’s debt is also largely due to the usually unregulated consumption by some of the MDAs. These MDAs with post-paid meters do not seem to care how much is consumed, especially when it is the ‘government’ that has to pay.
Thus, the directive by the government, as disclosed by Vice-President John Mahama at the public hearing on the proposed increment of utility tariffs by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), is vital. It is an important step towards the regulation of energy consumption by the MDAs.
Yet, even as we welcome the directive, the DAILY GRAPHIC wishes to caution that stringent mechanisms need to be instituted to effectively regulate the pattern of electricity consumption to prevent a situation where there is the reckless dissipation of state resources to reload prepaid meters.
Indeed, there is the need to recognise that the solution does not lie in only introducing prepaid meters but also working towards an effective policy on power consumption by MDAs and setting well-defined limits for power consumption.
The DAILY GRAPHIC also urges the ECG to step up the installation of prepaid meters in homes and private businesses, since they also constitute an important mass of power consumers.
While the ECG pursues that option, there is also the need for it to clean its house and improve the efficiency of its operations. The situation where some individuals and organisations illegally connect electricity, with the connivance of staff of the ECG, must be checked, since it is not in the least healthy and mirrors the level of indiscipline among the workers of the ECG.
The Vice-President could not have said it any better when he admonished the management of the ECG to endeavour to ensure that losses due to illegal connections, as well as commercial and technical losses, were reduced.
Many consumers tend to argue that any proposal for drastic tariff increases is not justified, given the poor quality of service that is sometimes provided by the ECG.
Yet, there is another school of thought that posits that unless the ECG is supported by way of some upward tariff adjustment, the company will continue to provide poor services for Ghanaians. With these two contrasting positions, it will be helpful for both parties to make some concessions and avoid taking entrenched positions.
It is, therefore, the hope of the DAILY GRAPHIC that the ongoing public hearing will help provide clear guidelines to empower the ECG and other utility providers to operate more efficiently while insulating the consumer against exorbitant tariffs.