Accra, June 8, GNA - The Committee for Joint Action (CJA) has express ed shock by the decision of government and the Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC) to increase tariffs on water and electricity.

A statement signed Mr Kwesi Adu, Convener of CJA on Monday said the increases were disproportionate to the increase in wages and salaries. It

said the effect of the increases would wipe out any relief that workers w ere expected to enjoy from the recent increase in wages.

It also said the increases have not been matched with any concrete measure to improve the performance of the utility companies. The statement said the CJA was aware of the levels of corruption, maladministration, inefficiency and reckless waste within the utility industry. It said instead of government and PURC taking concrete and effective measures to ensure that there were improvements in the delivery of utilit y services, it had rather decided to pass on the costs of malfeasance on to

the innocent end-user.

"It is disingenuous of the government to claim to have reduced the impact of the increases on poorer sections of Ghanaians when the same government knows that most poor people targeted to benefit from a so-call ed 48 million Ghana Cedis subsidy, reside in compound houses with several families, who use a single meter and would definitely exceed the 50 units

threshold", it added. The statement said Ghanaians could not continue to see their meager earnings being poured down the drain of the callous mismanagement of the utility services at a time of great hardship and unemployment. "We therefore call on government to reconsider the levels of increase s, replace the wasteful and uncaring management of the utility companies and

accept alternative measures of investment in the utility industry," it sa id. 8 June 10