The Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) has commended Vice President John Mahama and Finance Minister Kwabena Duffour for their roles in securing a downward review of new tariffs announced by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) a couple of months ago. In a statement signed by its President, Nana Owusu Afari, the Association recognized that the intervention of government, particularly the role played by the two officials, "has led to a significant reduction from over 200% increases in some industrial companies to less than a 100%." The AGI, meanwhile, has underscored its support for tariff setting in the country saying, "AGI wishes to reiterate its position that industry is not against tariff increases, but is of the view that all increases must be justified and realistic to make Ghanaian industries competitive." The upward adjustment of utility tariffs last June sparked off several protests notably from industry, organized labour and political pressure groups. There were also several weeks of deliberations among key stakeholders including the PURC, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and Utility Providers, culminating in the setting up of a Technical Committee by Vice President Mahama. Addressing the outcome of the process, the AGI said the revised levels of tariff, even though still high in the Ghanaian context, has been accepted by industry in view of the challenges faced by the utility providers and the commitment in ensuring that good service is provided. The Association assured that it will continue to work closely with utility providers to ensure that the interest of industry is taken into account in future reviews of utility tariffs. "We also hope that with these increases, electricity consumers will experience improvement in the service delivery from our service providers," it added. It said industry also welcomes the idea of commencing the implementation of an Automatic Tariff Adjustment System which ensures regular quarterly reviews of the tariffs. "We are looking forward to the next tariff review before the end of the year." Source: Public Agenda