Gov’t cannot undermine PURC over tariff adjustments – Wereko-Brobby

Former Volta River Authority (VRA) boss, Dr Wereko-Brobby, has described as “wrong" comments by a deputy information minister that government will not rush to increase tariffs.

Murtala Mohammed told the media at a press briefing that any proposals for tariff adjustments from the PURC will be acted upon taking into consideration the effects such adjustments will have on the public.

He said it is clear that the issue of paying realistic tariffs is no longer in doubt, but it is the timing of the proposed adjustments that is in contention.

But Dr Wereko- Brobby said on the Super Morning Show Friday that government’s position flouts the procedures laid down by the Constitution.

He said PURC is an independent body and its proposals for any tariff adjustments are drawn from consultations with relevant stakeholders, hence such proposals are not “recommendations” that needed to be considered by government in particular.

According to the former VRA chief executive, government’s interference in tariff adjustment processes of PURC could discourage Independent Power Producers from investing in the country.

He said the only thing that government can do under the circumstance is to say it will absorb the tariffs that Ghanaians will have to pay which also has its own repercussions in terms of the likely indebtedness to the utility companies.

“Let’s take politics out of this business,” he stressed.

He also suggested that government should pay the debts it owed the utility companies first, since that could solve some of the financial constraints the utility companies are facing presently.

“It is important that government does not start to think that we are in a communist state or a quasi-soviet state,” he said to buttress his point about government's unwarranted quest to intervene in every interest of the Ghanaian.

According to him, “government has no business in determining [utility] tariffs.”

But Deputy Information and Media Relations Minister, Murtala Mohammed, in a rebuttal on the show said government acknowledges that the PURC is the body mandated by law to fix tariffs.

Murtala Mohammed said government was concerned about the burden an increased tariff will have on the Ghanaian and the need for efficiency in utility service delivery.

He said government has not taken any position on the proposed tariff adjustments.