Veep meets stakeholders over tariff increases

Government team led by Vice President K.B. Amissah-Arthur, on Friday held a meeting with stakeholders who have been affected by the utility tariff increases announced recently by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), to discuss the implications of the increment and the way forward.

In attendance were representatives of organised labour, the business community and utility providers including the Volta River Authority, Electricity Company of Ghana, Ghana Grid Company Limited and Bui Power Authority.

A press statement from the Office of the Vice President and copied to the Ghana News Agency, observed that none of the stakeholders at the meeting was happy with the levels of tariff increases announced by the PURC.

“After extensive and fruitful deliberations, the meeting agreed that the objective of improving the efficiency and viability of the utility companied remained paramount.

“In order to achieve cost-effective provision of utility services, a technical Working Group was constituted to examine possible scenarios and their implications for the sustainable and efficient provision of the utility services and their impact on the national budget”, the statement said.

It added that among the options examined were mitigation measures that would allow industry and consumers to adjust to any new level of tariff adjustments, and how to avoid sudden and large upward adjustments in the future.