<<Print>>

Government has maintained that the recent upward adjustment in utility tariffs cannot be reversed – adding that any attempt to reverse it would be inimical to the stability of the economy.

The Employment and Labour Relations Minister, Haruna Iddrisu made this known when he met Organised Labour, Ghana Employers Association (GEA) and Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) on Tuesday over the upward adjustment in fuel prices, as well as water and electricity tariffs.

The increment of electricity and water tariffs by 59.2% and 67.2% respectively by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), took effect on December 14, 2015, while the 25% fuel increase became effective on January 5, 2016.

The fuel increment was occasioned by the passage of the Energy Sector Levy, 2015 by Parliament last December.

However, there was public outcry after the announcement and the subsequent implementation of the increases, although organised bodies such as the Trades Union Congress and the National Peace Council asked the regulatory commission to hold on with the increases.

Tuesday’s meeting with government was therefore to iron out issues relating to the increases and stay a possible strike action by workers to back their demands for a reduction in the utility price hikes.
The TUC Secretary General Mr Kofi Asamoah, at the end of the meeting said the meeting was not conclusive.

“Our insistence is on the reduction of utility levels since it is going to worsen the plight of ordinary people and we made government and stakeholders appreciate our unhappiness with those developments.” He told State Owned media, GBC.

But Mr Haruna Iddrisu on his part also said government took “those difficult but necessary decisions to stabilise the economy and to fix the energy crisis and prevent it from relapsing into a deeper crisis.”

He stated categorically that government now has an unsettled debt in the energy sector hence the new levy will help pay the debts.