Mr Kofi Asamoah, Deputy General Secretary (Operations) of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has said that the Congress would continue to pressurize the government to shelve its urban potable water production programme.
Addressing a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Volta Regional Council of Labour in Ho, Mr Asamoah said the TUC was convinced that water, which was vital for survival, should not be traded for money from whatever source.
He said government's enthusiasm for the policy might be because of the 1.8 billion cedis, which would be made available for the rehabilitation of the water systems if privatised.
Mr Asamoah said often people expressed views commending that policy line out of ignorance, saying that the companies vying to produce water in Ghana did not have unblemished testimonials and could only be chasing profits.
He wondered why only urban water systems were going for bidding under the policy and not systems in the rural areas where incomes were low. On incomes of workers, Mr Asamoah said they remained low despite repeated and passionate statements on the issue by President J.A Kufuor and called for action on the part of government.
He, however, urged workers to increase production because, " a cake must be produced before it can be shared". Regarding the proposed Labour School, Mr. Asamoah explained that the idea did not envisage an institution in the physical sense, but a programmed series of courses at various venues in the country, for Union workers.
The meeting discussed the TUC's exceptions to the Labour Bill, which would be passed into law when Parliament returns from recess next month.
Mr Asamoah explained that though the TUC collaborated in the process of drafting the Bill, over the period from the past government till today, certain changes, emphasis and variations had been noticed that were of concern to the labour organisation. Mr Maxwell Akoto-Mireku Regional Secretary of the TUC said efforts were being made to open more District Labour Offices in the region.
