Parliament amends PURC's Act to empower it financially

Accra, May 27, GNA - Parliament on Thursday passed the Public Utilit ies Regulatory Commission Amendment Bill to provide it with reliable funding and monitoring abilities. The bill sought an amendment to the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission Act 1997 (Act 538) to improve a levy on electricity and natura l gas transmission service among others.

The levy will serve as an additional source of funding for the PURC and Energy Commission. The amendment would also ensure that only those, who benefit directl y from the services of the regulated utility companies pay for associated cost.

Presenting a report on the amendment to Parliament, Mr David Tetteh-Assumeng, Chairman of the Committee on Works and Housing observed that PURC and the Energy Commission had many problems in monitoring the performance of utility companies as a result of inadequate funding. The report stated that the two institutions did not have the needed equipment to monitor standards set for the utilities by the regulators. It also indicated the high staff attrition rate of the two instituti ons as a result of poor remuneration.

Alhaji Mohammed Muntaka-Mubarak, Member of Paliament for Asawase supporting the report of the Committee, said the two institutions had mov ed a step further by the amendment which would ensure that the poor would no t pay high electricity bill because they stayed in compound houses. The nature of compound houses, he added, made it difficult for peopl e to share electricity bills. Alhaji Muntaka said parliament should find a way of getting PURC and

the Energy Commission to appear before the house to let the house know ho w their revenues were being spent.

Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, Minority Leader said in pursuance of arresting the problem of the poor in compound houses, the houses were supposed to be numbered so that they were not imperiled by the high electricity bills.

Mr Moses Asaga, Member of Parliament for Nabdam, said PURC had other

assignments in addition to supervising its compliance running other regio nal offices, but due to so many complains, they were not able to run the offi ces well. He said the two institutions should perform an advocacy role and let

customers know their rights.

Ms Cecilia Abena Dapaah, member for Bantama, said for the 13 years o f PURC's existence, they had performed below average and that it was good t hat the amendment would let everyone knew what they were doing. She urged PURC to be proactive and reactive to complaints of the publ ic so that they could render good services.