Dodowa, Aug. 8, GNA - Vice President John Dramani Mahama on Friday asked utility service providers to urgently improve on their performances, as Ghanaians could no longer accept the reasons offered for the plethora of poor services. He said the management of water and electricity companies must immediately turn the situation around by adopting prudent supervisory and cost cutting measures that would considerably reduce their inefficiencies.

The Vice President was addressing a joint orientation seminar for newly appointed members of the Energy Commission and the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission at Dodowa in the Greater Accra Region. He said: "Our utilities sector seems to be in a crisis situation and urgent action is needed to address the situation, because Ghanaians are tired and can no longer accept the reasons given for the poor performance".

Vice President Mahama said: "The current unacceptable state of our utilities may be due to a collective failure of several stakeholders. However, you are now being tasked with turning the situation around towards meeting customer expectations and ensuring that the government achieves its sector objectives".

In a speech that diagnosed the problems bedevilling the sector and what needed to be done in the short, medium and long term, the Vice President tasked the institutions to get their act together and "confront the multitude of challenges with support from the government". He expressed the government's unhappiness with developments in that sector and said the workshop was significant as it marked a new beginning.

He pointed out that President J.E.A. Mills chose the members based on their professional competence and combined aptitude to deliver on their statutory mandates to make Ghana a better place for all.

The new beginning, he said, included a determined agenda by President Mills' Administration to more than double the energy capacity of the country from the current estimated 2, 000 megawatts to a projected 5, 000 within the next five years, as well as achieve universal access to water and electricity in the near future.

Vice President Mahama said, in that regard, the new commissioners were expected to quickly get down to work and design projects that would enable the government to become a net exporter of energy within a short time, and use the sector as " a catalyst for industrialization and rapid economic growth towards the attainment of middle income status". He observed that development of infrastructure enhanced economic growth to bring qualitative improvements in the life of the people. He asked the commissioners to use their licensing and pricing roles to sustain the establishment and enforcement of clear industry rules of practice and standards to assure entrepreneurs who risked taking advantage of the sector of its viability.

Vice President Mahama particularly tasked the commissioners to ensure adequacy and quality of service through effective management of the markets as this would be crucial for the sustainable development and growth of the sector.

"All categories of customers, big and small require service which is safe, adequate, reliable, efficient and reasonable," he added. The Vice President encouraged the two boards to be the agents of change adding; "All aspects of our national lives must change. Be the agents of change in the utilities sector".

He urged them to immediately improve on monitoring and implementation of technical and operational rules to ensure the reduction of system losses to translate into huge savings for the customer.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Professor Abeiku Brew Hammond, Chairman of the Energy Commission, said the commissioners had accepted the Vice President's challenge and would work hard to reduce energy inefficiency.

He said they would encourage the local production of energy efficiency products such as bulbs with a tax incentive for companies that established plants in Ghana.

Mr Albert Abongo, Minister for Water Resources, Works and Housing, said cost containment measures were being adopted to encourage investments in the sector to rapidly expand water supply to underserved communities. 08 Aug. 09