ONE of the essential ingredients to determine the progress of any country is efficient power supply. In the home or industry, nothing can run effectively if electricity is not available at all times.
Not quite long ago, power generation and distribution companies started agitating for an upward adjustment in utility tariffs. Public reaction to that demand came from all consumers of power, including industrial consumers, who made it clear that the demands of the utility companies would create increased challenges for industrialists.
Everybody accepted that the utility companies faced real challenges that required immediate attention in order to protect plant and equipment and guarantee constant supply of power to the people. Indeed, they required huge resources to renew plant and equipment, such as sub-stations and turbines.
Generally, consumers acknowledged that something had to be done about the tariffs in order to keep the system running. The dilemma, however, had to do with the level which all consumers could afford, without causing disruptions to family and company budgets.
As the debate raged on, the PURC announced a 42 per cent adjustment in tariffs, leading to public outcry. Many consumers have complained about the upward adjustments, with certain reports putting the increase way above what the PURC officially announced. As of today, many consumers think that the PURC has not made full disclosures about the tariff adjustments.
Whatever the concerns, including the threat by textile industries to lay off workers and protests by unionised labour, the utility companies have the legitimate right to collect the new tariffs.
The DAILY GRAPHIC has, time and again, acted as a spokesperson for domestic consumers, particularly consumers in compound houses. Although those in this group are in the lower income group, they end up paying higher bills because their aggregate consumption is always higher than those in apartments.
The solution lies in the provision of prepaid meters in all office and residential buildings.
We are aware of efforts by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to improve services but action has been very slow, resulting in majority of consumers still relying on post-paid meters.
The use of prepaid meters will lead to a win-win situation, with the ECG and consumers no longer in a tussle over unpaid bills and levels of consumption. Consumers can regulate their bills, while the ECG will have no headache collecting bills.
Through that arrangement, the ECG will save cost by deploying meter readers for the performance of other duties. The directive by the government to all ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to shift onto prepaid meters from August 1, this year must, therefore, be enforced. This way, the ECG will not accumulate huge amounts in unpaid tariffs owed by the MDAs.
However, the effectiveness of this directive rests solely on the shoulders of the government because MDAs run on government budget.
If the government refuses to release funds to the MDAs according to schedule, they cannot carry out their activities, including purchasing power to run their offices.
The DAILY GRAPHIC calls on the government to enforce the directive to put to rest the ‘business as usual’ mentality whereby inter-governmental institution accounts are never reconciled, resulting in government institutions owing the ECG GH¢80 million in utility bills.
The long and short of our mantra is that the time has come for all Ghanaians to accept that there can no longer be “free lunch” in the country.
The DAILY GRAPHIC believes that we can enjoy a better standard of living if we agree to pay realistic rates for all services while encouraging the government to provide safety nets for the vulnerable in society.
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