PURC has no business constructing boreholes – Analyst

A water and sanitation expert, Patrick Apoya, has cautioned the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), against spearheading a planned project to construct 500 boreholes in various parts of the country. According to him, the Commission’s mandate does not include undertaking such projects but rather supervising them. The PURC has been accused by the opposition New ...

A water and sanitation expert, Patrick Apoya, has cautioned the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), against spearheading a planned project to construct 500 boreholes in various parts of the country.

According to him, the Commission’s mandate does not include undertaking such projects but rather supervising them.

The PURC has been accused by the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), of conniving with government to inflate the unit cost of the said boreholes, to fund the governing National Democratic Congress’ (NDC) election campaign.

A letter authorized by the PURC and addressed to the Public Procurement Authority (PPA), in October 2016, sought an approval to single source some selected contractors, to carry out the water project.

But according to Mr. Apoya, the approach was wrong.

Speaking on the Citi Breakfast show on Wednesday, November 23, he said the PURC’s direct involvement in the project could plunge it into “credibility problems.”

“They [PURC] oversees, but they don’t have to physically do it. You are the person regulating the sector. The PURC does not regulate the rural water sub-sector. They provide advice to assemblies to be able to do the regulations themselves.”

“The PURC doesn’t have that capacity of oversee a full-blown water supply system. They are very competent in their area of work; but if they delve into areas that they don’t have expertise in, it can end in credibility problems for them.”

Mr. Apoya expressed concern over the silence of the Community Water and Sanitation Agency about the development, since most of the areas listed to have the boreholes fall under their jurisdiction.

“Why will the PURC decide that all these towns, fall under the pro-poor consideration and we are going to provide water for them. That is extremely irregular. Pro-poor interventions target areas that need to be served; yet water is not reaching them. But these areas we are mentioning are full schemes we are providing for the communities. They are not pro-poor schemes, they are normal water supply schemes that ordinarily should be handled by the Community Health and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), and I don’t know why CWSA is not raising any flags,” he added.

‘Gov’ borehole project cost inflated’

The opposition New Patriotic Party at a press conference on Tuesday, said the amount for the boreholes has been inflated, by the PURC, to enable the Mahama-led administration siphon public funds for its campaign activities.

“The total cost of the project for the 500 bore-holes is GH¢30million.’ And, no matter where the borehole is being dug, the rate per unit is quoted at GH¢60,000. This, ladies and gentlemen, is four times, the market rate,” the NPP said.

But the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) defended its decision to spend about GHc30 million in constructing 500 boreholes in selected communities across the country saying the projects which are yet to commence, are “integrated water systems” saying the cost of such projects are higher than normal boreholes.

–

By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @jnyabor

Read Full Story