PURC Press Corps inaugurated

Accra, Aug. 13, GNA - Mr. Ransford Tetteh, President of the Ghana Journalists Association, on Wednesday asked journalists to expose the inefficiencies within the utilities sector with a view to improving the services to the public.

Mr Tetteh, who made the call at the inauguration of a Press Corps for the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) in Accra, challenged members to critically dwell on issues and interrogate personalities charged with responsibility to deliver uninterrupted supply of utility services. He said water and electricity were critical drivers of development in any society and every effort must be made to ensure that the services were available and affordable at all times. He said the waste in the water and electricity sectors was hindering efforts to expand the services and make them available to consumers.

Mr Tetteh urged members of the Corps to use the media to promote and enhance a better understanding of the public about the challenges faced by the utilities sector.

In doing this, however, the media must exercise circumspection and tact in reportage guided by the tenets of accuracy, fairness and balance.

"You can only be accurate if you seek clarification to the information that is made available to you by consumers and service providers bearing in mind that to every coin there are two sides," Mr Tetteh said.

On the provision of separate meters for people living in compound houses, Mr. Tetteh called on the PURC to encourage the Electricity Company of Ghana to provide more meters for compound houses to enable them to benefit from government policy to reduce the burden on low income earners through the introduction of lifeline rates. According to him the government's intention to reduce the burden on consumers in the lower income bracket through the lifeline rates was being hampered by the use of a single meter to serve the population in such compound houses. Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng, Chairman of PURC, said the group was formed to team up with the Public Affairs and the Bureau of Consumer Protection of the Commission to educate members of the public on their rights and responsibilities on the utilities. They will also help to protect the interest of consumers as well as services providers to ensure a reliable provision of utility services. Prof. Frimpong-Boateng said members of the corps would be assisted to deepen their understanding of various issues within the utilities sector to enable them to effectively communicate such information to the members of the public.