<<Print>>

The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, has asked the four utility service providers in the country, to put their houses in order before asking for increment in utility tariffs. He said there were many shortfalls in the performances of the utility providers which needed to be corrected to help them overcome their economic problems. The Asantehene, who is also the President of the Ashanti Regional House of Chiefs, gave the advice when representatives of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), together with the Electricity Company Of Ghana (ECG), the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), the Volta River Authority (VRA) and the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo), visited the Ashanti Regional House of Chiefs during its first general meeting in Kumasi. Representatives of the four companies were at the meeting to explain to Nananom and solicit their views on their demand for a 166 per cent increase in all tariffs. Otumfuo Osei Tutu said he appreciated the need for an increment in tariffs to meet the cost of production but said consumers should not be made to pay for the failures of companies which refused to do what was expected of them. He also advised that the companies should cut down their staff strength and use the money that would be saved, to improve their operations. The Technical Head of the PURC, Mr Moses Asaga, appealed to the Asantehene to urge the government to help in the development of gas to supplement power in the country. The Executive Secretary of the PURC, Mr Samuel Sarpong, said the commission was committed to serving all consumers to their satisfaction. All the four service providers explained to Nananom that they needed the increment to meet production cost and also maintain their equipment.