Deputy Minister of Energy under the John Mahama administration, John Jinapor says the Public Utility and Regulatory Commission (PURC) had no basis for its approval of the 11.17% recent electricity tariff increment in Ghana.
To Mr Jinapor, who doubles as the National Democratic Congress Member of Parliament for the Yapei Kusawgu Constituency, inflation, foreign exchange and the price of fuel which were some indicators cited by the PURC for the increment, were worse or virtually the same for the 10.8% tariff reduction in 2018.
“So it means that from the time the tariffs were reduced in 2018 when they were paying for gas consumed, compared to today, their cost of production has come down.
“Because today, the gas they are procuring, Parliament has granted approval that they should not pay for that gas; almost GHc1 billion,” he said.
He was speaking on Asempa FM’s Ekosi Sen show, Tuesday.
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Commenting on PURC’s fuel price and foreign exchange, he said “in the 2019 budget, utility companies were to be freed of the burden of paying $181 million for the gas they consume and when the cedi was falling, you thought it prudent to reduce tariffs. You didn’t even hold the tariffs. So today what has changed?” he quizzed.
He added: “These developments made it clear that there is a huge debt and utilities are collapsing and that is a fact.”
Source: Adomonline.com | Gertrude Octhere