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Students of the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), Tarkwa in the Western, have bemoaned the directive that public tertiary institutions should pay their own electricity bills, and kicked against the directive. The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) claims that it had had a directive from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning that all public universities should pay their own electricity bills and settle all debts owed it (ECG) or suffer a power cut. The implication is that university authorities would be compelled to include utility bills in the fees of students by the next semester. The move, according to the UMaT students, would no doubt exacerbate the woes of tertiary students, noting that they were already overburdened with the exorbitant cost of tertiary education in the country. This was contained in a statement issued by the executives of the Students� Representative Council (SRC) of UMaT and signed by its President, Oteng Amponsah Enock. The students noted that government instituted the payment of subventions for all tertiary institutions in order to make tertiary education accessible and affordable to all. They were therefore shocked to learn that government had decided to withdraw all forms of subsidies and subventions to public tertiary institutions. �Removal of these subventions contradicts the �People matter you matter� mantra that is being preached by the current government,� they indicated. The statement recalled that in September last year, Kumasi Polytechnic was threatened to pay their utility bills or suffer the consequence of being disconnected from the national grid. �Two months later, their electricity supply was cut off. Koforidua Polytechnic had similar warnings and subsequent sanctions not long ago,� the statement added. It stated further, �We are reliably informed that the Electricity Company was moving from campus to campus issuing similar threats and making similar demands.� According to the students, the plight of the poor in Ghana was gradually being pushed under the carpet and that the government was creating a state where only the rich could survive. �We are therefore calling on government to intervene and resolve amicably the problem without delay�.