Justina Owusu-Banahene, the Bono Regional Minister, has urged the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority Commission (PURC) to introduce transformative policies and programmes aimed at enhancing transparency and accountability.

That she said, will drive the improvement of the work of the PURC.

She said that 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 served as the mediator between consumers and utility service providers and was thus always subjected to constant criticism by the public.

But it was through such constructive criticisms and right suggestions that would enable the Commission delivered on its mandate, she added.

Madam Owusu-Banahene said water and electricity were critical commodities for domestic and industrial purposes and for the well-being of humanity.

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.

Madam Owusu-Banahene
Dr Ishmeal Ackah, the Executive Secretary of PURC, explained the CSC aimed at providing a platform for utilities to educate consumers on their operations and challenges hindering their service delivery for efficient service delivery.

He added it also served 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 their roles and responsibilities and the need for citizens to continually engage them and their services.

Later in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Kassim Abdul Karim, an Assembly member from Techiman and a participant appealed to the PURC to make such programmes regularly for the benefit of the public.