General News of Friday, 26 March 2010

Source: GNA

Consumers express concern about frequent power outages

Tamale, March 26, GNA - Participants at a public forum organised by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) in Tamale have expressed their displeasure at the frequent power cuts without any warnings from the utility companies and complained that this was damaging their personal as well as commercial gadgets and equipment.

The participants urged the service providers, namely the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL), the Volta River Authority (VRA) and GRIDCO to provide efficient services to correspond with the tariff they want consumers to pay.

The forum was organised by the PURC to solicit the opinions and inputs on the proposed tariff increases by the utility providers. A large number of the consumers called on the regulatory bodies to ensure that service providers rendered efficient and quality service to correspond with any increment they were proposing.

Dr. Emmanuel Annan, chairman of the PURC, said the commission was not only interested in the periodic review of tariffs but also concerned with the protection of consumers.

He said the Commission would enforce the law and its accompanying regulations and sanctions. 26 March 10