<<Print>>

Imminent Hikes In tariff: NPP Serves �Massive Demo� Notice A former youth organiser of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Anthony Abayifaa Karbo, has hinted of massive demonstrations across the country should utility tariffs go up. The Director of Public Affairs at the Public Utilities and Regulatory Commission (PURC), Nana Yaa Gyantuah has indicated the hikes are a must and imminent. What remain to be resolved are the increment levels � with operators demanding a whopping 150 per cent increase for electricity and 100 per cent for water. Nana Yaa Gyantuah told Joy FM Friday evening that while she could not confirm the exact levels to be determined, certain drivers justify the utilities companies� demand for the adjustments. �We�re talking about exchange rate, we�re talking about expansions in the system, you should also know that electricity demand is about 10 per cent per annum and we need to meet that demand. We are talking about issues of suppressed demand where consumers are not getting the right kind of quality in terms of electricity where people talk about low voltage� There is the purchases of crude oil on the part of VRA�� An added reason, she said, is that the last tariff increase was about three years ago, �and everybody knows that the cost of doing business in this country has increased and whatever it is the utility service providers need some form of increase to help them work. For nothing at all, even they need to make their balance sheets look clean so that they can even go to the banks to borrow, to do some form of capital investments in the system. So as for the increase it is necessary that there is an increase in water and electricity in the country.� But Anthony Karbo, who featured on Asempa FM�s Ekosii Sen programme, said the party would resist the increases in the face of mass hardships in the country, and rally the public onto the streets in protest.