Water tariffs to increase from June 1

The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has announced that effective June 1, 2023, the cost of water services will witness an upward adjustment for all consumers.

According to the PURC, the increment has become necessary due to the increased cost of water and the chemicals used in treating raw water.

“In taking this decision, the commission took cognizance of the cost of electricity, increased volume cost of chemicals for raw water treatment, the Ghana Cedi/US Dollar exchange rate and inflation,” portions of a PURC statement issued on Thursday, May 18 read.

The Commission emphasized its commitment to ensuring that utility service providers only provide the best of service to consumers.

“The Commission will continue to monitor the operations of the utility service providers to ensure value for money and quality service delivery”, it added.

In addition to the increased tariffs for water services, during the same period, the PURC has increased tariffs for electricity and natural gas by 18.36 percent across the board.

The Commission attributed the recent hike to the depreciation of the cedi, inflation, electricity generation mix, and the weighted average cost of natural gas.

Speaking to the media, Dr. Eric Obutey, Director of Research and Cooperate Affairs at PURC indicated that the Commission was compelled by the current economic conditions of the state to increase the electricity tariff.

He explained, “You cannot blame the people who do the increases because they want to make sure they continue to produce, that is why, I don’t want to blame the PURC but the inability of the government to maintain a good economic leverage that will give the Ghanaian the capability of paying off without these troubles we are going through.”

EAN/MA