The Bono Regional Minister, Madam Justina Owusu-Banahene, has urged the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) to introduce transformative policies and programmes to enhance transparency and accountability. That, she said, will drive the improvement of the work of the PURC.
She said it would also enable the Commission to gain the confidence of service providers and consumers alike, saying ”as customers are paying their bills on time and the service providers are also ensuring the best of services, most of these unnecessary conflicts would be drastically reduced to the barest minimum for a peaceful co-existence among the institutions and the individuals.”
Madam Owusu-Banahene was speaking at the maiden edition of the Consumer Service Clinic (CSC) programme, organised by the Bono, Bono East and Ahafo regional office of the PURC in Sunyani.
The clinic was attended by hundreds of participants that comprised staff of Northern Electricity Distribution Company, Ghana Water Company Limited, corporate institutions, individuals and staff of PURC, drawn from the three regions.
Madam Owusu-Banahene emphasised that PURC serves as the mediator between consumers and the utility service providers and thus always subjected to constant criticism by the public.
“But it is through such constructive criticisms and right suggestions that would enable the Commission to deliver on its mandate”, she said.
Madam Owusu-Banahene said “water and electricity are critical commodities for domestic and industrial purposes and for the well-being of humanity”.
She added that, “those essential utilities also contributed immensely to the socio-economic development of the country, hence the need for high-quality standards to sustain continuous quality service delivery”.
Madam Owusu-Banahene, therefore, encouraged individuals and all sector players and interest groups, including the academia, trade unions and policy think tanks to continue to participate in the work of PURC for the benefit of the citizenry.
The Executive Secretary of PURC, Dr. Ishmeal Ackah, explained that the CSC aims at providing a platform for utilities to educate consumers on their operations and challenges hindering their service delivery for efficient service delivery.
He added that it also serves as an avenue to set up a desk to address complaints and challenges affecting consumers, saying the clinic would enable the PURC to explain to the public that their roles and responsibilities and the need for citizens to continually engage them and their services.
Mr. Kassim Abdul Karim, an Assembly member from Techiman and a participant, appealed to the PURC to make such programmes regular for the benefit of the public.
