Utility Companies Want A Share Of Govt�s Lavish Spending

The Minority spokesperson on Energy in Parliament, K.T. Hammond has attributed the demands of the utility companies in the country for a tariff increment to government�s lavish spending. He said: �The utility companies seem to be aware that the government is just spreading money around so they can also tap in and make a demand with the hope that if a government is able to give so much money to guinea fowl people�and the resource of the country could be wasted in the way that people seem to be wasting, then the utilities seem to be suggesting that then it�s fair for us to have our fair share.� The Volta River Authority (VRA), Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) and the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) on Wednesday demanded a total tariff increment of about 384 percent to help them run efficiently. But in an interview on Eyewitness News on Wednesday, Mr. Hammond who was once a Deputy Energy Minister under the Kufuor administration lamented the posturing of the three power companies. According to him, �although the three companies need funds to revamp their systems to enable them run effectively, their current demand is �immoral, it is arrogant and it is insensitive.� �Just look at the state of power supply in Ghana and you just simply get up one day and stream up these figures and expect that the good people of Ghana should pay; to me, it�s not only unreasonable but it is arrogant, it is insensitive.� The Adansi Asokwa MP threatened to personally �lead the people of this country on a demonstration through the principal streets of Accra to demonstrate to the government of this country that the people of Ghana are human beings and they deserve to be treated better.�