Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) says the combination of galamsey-driven costs and inadequate tariff adjustments will make it impossible to close the widening gap between demand and supply.

Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express, GWCL’s Public Relations Officer, Stanley Martey, said the 15.92% tariff increase approved by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) may offer temporary relief but cannot support the scale of investment the company urgently needs.

He said the PURC itself had admitted the increment was “inadequate,” acknowledging that the Commission had attempted to balance the company’s needs with the economic pressure on consumers.

“He himself has admitted that the tariff given to us this time around is inadequate,” Martey said.

“And he also admits that he knows that it will be very difficult for us to operate, but then, under the circumstances, this is what they can give.”

Mr Martey said GWCL has learned to work prudently under constrained tariffs, but the situation is becoming unsustainable.

“It is woefully inadequate, but we will have to work and ensure that we serve our consumers efficiently,” he said.

“It’s very difficult to do investments, even to manage operations. So if every time we have to continue like this, I don’t know what the future holds.”

He added that the PURC often slashed proposed tariff figures despite GWCL providing all required parameters.

“Every time there’s a formula for calculating the tariff, we input in all the parameters and come out to the figure,” he explained.

“But then the PURC in its wisdom will also come out with some other parameters and then slash it down to a very low figure.”

Responding to questions about the additional burden of illegal mining, he said the cost implications were enormous and had pushed GWCL far beyond its limits.

He noted that contamination from galamsey operations has forced the company to spend heavily on chemicals, treatment processes and infrastructure maintenance, all at a time when revenue levels remain restricted.

Martey made it clear that a constant, uninterrupted water supply cannot happen under the prevailing financial conditions.

“Okay, so for now we have admitted every time that there’s a gap between demand and supply,” he said.

“To enable us to bridge that gap, we need to do a lot of investments, including building new infrastructure like treatment plants, extending pipelines and all that.”

He stressed that the new tariff is nowhere near what is required to fund expansion, clear debts or secure loans for new projects.

“These are capital-intensive, and is this 15.9% adequate to enable us to save enough money or to clear our books, to enable us even to go for a loan facility, to expand our facility? That is impossible.”

Martey warned that unless Ghana builds more treatment plants and extends pipelines, a 24-hour water supply will remain out of reach.

“Let’s admit that we can only keep the taps on 24/7 when we have built new treatment plants, when we have extended pipelines and all that,” he said. “This tariff cannot do that.”

He said GWCL will keep the system running as efficiently as possible, but demand management remains the only realistic option.

“The little water in the system will have to be managed and managed effectively, and we can only do that by the demand management program that we put across.”