General News of Friday, 8 March 2013
Source: Joy Online
Member of Parliament for Adansi-Asokwa is incensed over demands by power generators for tariff increases.
KT Hammond said it is “immoral”, “arrogant” for anybody to think or propose tariff adjustment at a time when the nation is in power crisis.
The country for the last few months cannot provide electricity to all its consumers and has resorted to a poorly managed load shedding programme.
Businesses are reeling under the situation with the major industrial hubs taken over by the sound of noisy generators.
For residential users, their anger keeps swelling each day after nights spent in the dark.
Some told Joy News their electrical gadgets are at the mercy of the electricity providers who switch off their lights at will and without notice.
The power generators have assured the situation will improve in June 2013 but need an immediate tariff adjustment.
Officials of the Volta River Authority say the increases in tariffs will take part of the cost of power generation which is heading to an alarming proportion.
They have made a proposal to the Public Utility and Regulation Authority as well as the Parliamentary Select Committee on Energy for increases in tariffs.
But KT Hammond told Joy News such proposal smacks of arrogance.
He said at a time like this, it is not officials of VRA who should come singing the chorus for increase in electricity prices.
He said it is the responsibility of government who has signed a “social contract” with the citizens of Ghana to come and explain why the country is in such crisis.
KT Hammond said it a “miserable argument” to talk about tariff increases when government is not doing the right things to ensure that the electricity crisis is over.
He said crisis has little to do with money and everything to do with mismanagement, adding the government must fix the problem.