In actual fact, I am not against the increase; my difficulty is the over-politicisation of the increment which has clouded the real debate.
The days when we enjoyed free things are over and if we continue paying less for utility service charges in the name of poor working conditions then we will end up doing nothing for this country.
Because of the politicisation of the increment it seems consumers want to oppose anything that comes from the government.
If we continue saying that the economy is bad and that things should be as they are, how will the central government generate revenue to fix the economical problems?
We all know that both the Ghana Water Company and the Electricity Company of Ghana cannot look for funds from the Ghana Stock Exchange. The inability of government to attract private investors into these sectors is largely due to the fact that consumers are not paying for the real cost of what they use.
The government buys power from the producers at a very high rate and sells it at low prices. How can the utility companies, therefore, sustain their operation if the government continues to absorb the excess cost?
The best thing I recommend to my compatriots is that they should learn to control the usage of utilities such as water and electricity. They should switch off all gadgets when necessary and only put on lights when it is absolutely necessary.
That aside the ECG and Ghana Water should also find a way of eliminating the waste in the system.
Personally, I have no problem with the adjustments but the responsibility on the part of users as well as producers is very critical and we have to look at it dispassionately, devoid of politics.
I don’t have a problem with the 89 per cent increase in electricity and 36 per cent in water. What I am advocating for is a corresponding increase in the salaries of workers.
The service providers should also work on eliminating the waste in the system to ensure that when we are talking about real cost it would be minus waste.
I am a pensioner and sympathise with the ordinary man on the street who has difficulty in paying his bills. If workers are paid good salaries and the waste in the system is eliminated, nobody would complain about the increases.
Many people work in the private sector, and most of these private sector companies do not even pay the minimum wage. Therefore, how do we expect such people to survive?
The sad aspect of the situation is that, when the increment was announced, instead of people talking about the issue in a non-partisan manner to ensure that we all contribute to the debate, it was coloured with politics.
One other interesting thing is that when the debate on the increase in tariffs was ongoing we were comparing it to countries in the West African sub-region and saying that we in Ghana were paying less.
But the facts are that the income levels and taxes in those countries are different from ours, therefore, the best thing to do is to work on removing the waste in the system.
In Takoradi, where I live, streetlights are on throughout the day when they should be off. The system is just bad. Ghana Water Company and the ECG/VRA first have to ensure that things are put right before going to the consumer to ask for more.
It is only natural that when people become appreciative of an act or work done, they will be willing to give more. However, when they are not sure of the sustainability of the service delivery and are asked to pay more money, they will naturally resist.
The increase in utility charges should be withdrawn. The service providers should straighten their system before the increment takes effect. I am a mechanic and I use electricity a lot.
My colleagues and I are not ready to pay. I think the percentage increase should be reduced and the Public Utility and Regulatory Commission ( PURC) must get the utility companies to put their act right to eliminate waste.
The problems they had to deal with is not about increment, meaning that if they had been able to prevent 50 per cent of the waste in their line of operation, this increment would not have been necessary.
Sometimes one reports to work, but there is no light and one therefore has to wait endlessly, meanwhile one has to eat, pay school fees, water bills and address other social needs.
The best thing the government can do is to rather task the utility companies to ensure that there is no waste in the system.
I am not a salaried worker and it is difficult for me to get money to pay for what I use at my workplace and home. Therefore, if I decide to charge more who would come to my shop to seek my services?
They should rather suspend the increment because we are not ready now. Life has become rough and tough for some of us.
If income levels are good and service deliveries efficient, nobody will complain; we will all embrace it without complaining.
Our salaries are meagre with no substantial increment and I don’t understand why we are being asked to pay more. Life has become very unbearable for some of us.
I have school fees to pay, my family to feed, and the extended family system we practise in Ghana also requires that one extends a helping hand to the deprived in one's family.
For three years, I have not seen any increase in my income, but when there is a general increase in any utility tariff, it affects me a lot.
It is sad and very unfair that there are people who do not have money to even pay for three-square meals a day but we want to increase tariffs without considering the social discomfort that this will cause them.
If income levels are good, business is booming and commerce and industry moving with the corresponding increase in trading we would not have a problem with the increases.
As it is, we are operating at a loss. That aside, many people do not have jobs and if higher tariffs are forced down our throats, many may not survive.
We all agree that the government is doing its best to ensure that social services are there for people to access, but the fact is that the waste is too much.
If anything, the tariff increment should be shelved for the meantime, because our economic situation is not good enough.
We are operating at a loss; the increment in utility tariffs would as a matter of fact throw those of us in the hospitality industry out of business since we cannot pass on the new cost to our customers.
I have to buy water to ensure that my guests are comfortable or have access to water as and when they need it.
When the light goes off, I have to make sure I fuel the generator to supply the whole facility with power to ensure that I do not create any discomfort for the guests lodging at my facility.
Therefore, if we have to pay extra cost for the service that is already not reliable then some of us would have to fold up.
The best thing to do at the moment is to suspend the adjustments. We in the hospitality industry cannot pay the extra cost because it is difficult to look for additional money to buy extra water and diesel to power our plants.
We are not saying there should not be an upward adjustment of tariffs, but all other factors should be taken into consideration. We pay huge taxes and our overhead cost is so high, while many of our services are provided on credit.
It takes quite sometime for us to recoup the money we spend on the services we provide.
The new tariff would have a negative rippling effect on the employees of the facility and that is not good enough for the development agenda of the government and the private sector.
The service companies should look for more funds to improve their efficiency level to ensure regular services to the customers before we talk about payment.
The upward adjustment in utility tariffs is not justifiable. Nothing is moving. What is going to happen with the increment is that prices of goods and services will go up since people are going to factor it into the unit price of goods and services.
Therefore, the consumers of other services would be the next victims. I was surprised when a taxi driver told me I had to pay more because prices of water and electricity have been increased and they have to work hard to ensure that they meet the challenges that the increment would bring.
The utility service providers’ claim that they want consumers to pay the right prices to enable them give better services is untrue.
The service providers should just get back and purge themselves of the waste they are generating.
The increment is too high and something has to be done urgently else some of us would be thrown out of business in no time.
I am a service provider and the situation is very bad. Electricity is taking a chunk of my income and I am running at a loss.
We have other taxes as well as workers salaries to pay, therefore, the increase in electricity and water tariffs will push our businesses out of gear.
We are not against the increase but if the services they provide improve, we would not hesitate to pay the new rate. But that does not mean we should pre-finance it. I run a bar, if the light goes off, I have to buy petrol to power my generator.
Our drinks have to be chilled and the music we play enables people to relax after a hard day’s work.
Are we going to charge people extra for just a bottle of drink?
That notwithstanding if water is not flowing, we have to buy it. Therefore if I have to go through all these things and I am not getting the required service then it is disturbing.
I have workers and I cannot let them down. We create, share and pay taxes to government. But if our business operations are grinding to a halt then we have to sit up.
I must be honest with you that I am not happy with the increment. For the sake of my job, it is important that the PURC suspends the increase and urge the utility companies to clean their system.
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