Audit all utility companies – CJA

The Committee for Joint Action on Thursday called on government to order for a general management and financial audit of the utility companies which should take a look  at the award of contracts over the past 10 years.

They also urged the government to overhaul the management of the utility companies to improve efficiency as well as publish full list of all the names of companies who are in arrears of electricity tariffs in the newspapers.

The Committee said some companies in such arrears include the Volta River Authority (VRA), Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCO) Ltd, Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Ghana Water Company (GWC) Ltd.

A statement signed by Mr Kwesi Pratt Jnr, for the Convener of the CJA, said the public has been concerned about the lack of expansion and improvement in quality of services which are largely as result of maladministration, inefficiencies and corruption in those services.

The statement said the VRA cannot attribute its loss-making performance solely to the absence of gas from the West African Gas Pipeline.

It said after all the accident which blocked the supply of the gas occurred in August 2012 and therefore could not have been the reason why the VRA had projected that it would end the year 2012 with a loss of GH₵720 million.

It said the VRA in 2009 recorded operational profit of GH₵11.3 million, in 2010 the VRA made a net profit of GH₵40.6million and also in 2011 made a net profit of GH₵82.6 million.

The statement also said the annual report of the ECG indicated that the total unpaid tariffs in 2009 alone amounted to GH₵30million while in 2008, the uncollected tariffs amounted to GH₵16.4 million.

It said government ministries, department and agencies are known to owe more than GH₵230 million in tariffs which the ECG has failed to collect. Besides, the state-owned institutions including the three major universities owe more than GH₵9 million in tariffs.

The statement said the recent revelation that the Ghana Water Company imported and used expired chemicals in the water system is only a tip of the iceberg with regards to corruption and callousness on the part of senior management.

Source: GNA