Load shedding to affect labour and national budget

Accra, Sept. 11, GNA - Industry captains say the current load shedding exercise by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has the potential of not only affecting human resource figures in their establishments but also projected targets in the 2006 Budget. They said the exercise was a serious dampener on industry, stressing that if the exercise went beyond one month, it could result in industry and private sector operators having to shed off a number of employees as a means of re-adjusting to their new increased cost of operation.

Dr Osei Boeh-Ocansey, Director-General of the Private Enterprise Foundation (PEF), and Mr Wilson Krofah, President of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI), were speaking to the Ghana News Agency in separate interviews on the effect of the energy crisis on industry and the impact it could have on the national economy, especially in meeting the projected Gross Domestic Product (GDP) target of six per cent.

"The fact is that industry is now incurring higher costs of energy bills and cannot sustain carrying on the same number of employees. This can be managed in the short term, but if this goes on beyond a certain point, we would have no option than to cut down on our numbers," Mr Boeh-Ocansey explained.

The PEF Director-General noted that energy was a critical part of industry stressing that there would be no way that output would not be affected.

He was optimistic that considering the looming energy crisis, targets set out in the 2006 Budget would be affected significantly, especially the nation's ability to meet the six per cent target in GDP growth.

Dr Boeh-Ocansey condemned the high voltage, low voltage mix-up of residential and industrial concerns, adding that it was difficult for the managers of the ECG to do a patterned load shedding exercise where residential areas could go off during the day and have power in the night.

Mr Krofah expressed similar sentiments indicating that industry was on the verge of rationalizing its operations to make production profitable.

He said targets in the 2006 Budget such as income taxes and VAT especially in the informal sector, faced great danger and expressed the hope that the VRA and ECG would come up with a sustainable alternative in the short term.

Mr Tony Oteng-Gyasi, President of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), said industry especially the mining and manufacturing sectors would suffer most in terms of keeping up the pace of running costs.

He explained that companies usually projected their costs and revenue at the start of the New Year, saying such jolts in the short to medium term had serious implications for them. Other industry players told the Ghana News Agency the situation was dire 93and the authorities are not ready to tell us the whole truth all at once".

They said even though the level of the water is rising marginally, it was nothing to write home about as it would not halt the load shedding exercise. 11 Sept. 06