Maami Dufie Ofori
THE PUBLIC Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC) says it is studying the current power supply in the country and is ready to apply sanctions if the power distributors are found ‘culpable’.
The executive secretary of the commission, Maami Dufie Ofori, gave the warning yesterday in Sunyani when the commission opened its Bono regional office to monitor activities of utility providers in the region.
“Since we came, we have experienced one or two outages and we are studying the situation. We are ready to apply sanctions if the power suppliers are found culpable,” she said.
“As part of the PURC mandate to the protect interests of consumers and the regulated utilities, the commission, as part of its corporate policy, is committed to reaching out to consumers of water and electricity in all corners of the country. To this end, we are launching the Bono Region office in Sunyani today to take care of all the three regions, including Ahafo and Bono East,” she indicated.
Addressing consumers, the director in charge of regional operations, Abubakari Jafaru, said “electricity is a crucial commodity. When it goes off, it affects businesses and health of people.”
He, therefore, appealed to residents to report their concerns, opinions and suggestions to them, in order to ensure that generation of electricity and water is guaranteed.
“As part of our mandate, we will be proactive by taking information from consumers and also visiting utility providers to see their challenges. When they are unable to satisfy consumers, then we come in. So you don’t need to struggle with utility providers because they have assured us of their collaboration,” he explained further.
He assured consumers that the commission would not only be concerned with efficiency of utilities, but would also take into account the attitude of staffs of these companies towards consumers, among other things.
The regional director of Northern Electricity Department (NEDCO) a subsidiary of electricity company of Ghana in charge of the Northern sector, Nana Sarfo Kantanka, admitted that in recent times, the company had been having some few challenges but promised that now that the commission is in the region, the company would sit up.
He, however, pleaded with consumers to first report their problems to the customer care unit of NEDCO before heading to the office of the PURC.
FROM Daniel Y Dayee, Sunyani