{"id":106137,"date":"2025-12-10T03:32:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T03:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=106137"},"modified":"2025-12-10T03:32:00","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T03:32:00","slug":"galamsey-costs-low-tariffs-make-24-7-water-supply-unrealistic-gwcl-pro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=106137","title":{"rendered":"Galamsey costs, low tariffs make 24\/7 water supply unrealistic \u2013 GWCL PRO"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>2 Minute, 49 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
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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.<\/p>\n

Speaking on Joy News\u2019 PM Express, GWCL\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

He said the PURC itself had admitted the increment was \u201cinadequate,\u201d acknowledging that the Commission had attempted to balance the company\u2019s needs with the economic pressure on consumers. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe himself has admitted that the tariff given to us this time around is inadequate,\u201d Martey said. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Martey said GWCL has learned to work prudently under constrained tariffs, but the situation is becoming unsustainable. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is woefully inadequate, but we will have to work and ensure that we serve our consumers efficiently,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very difficult to do investments, even to manage operations. So if every time we have to continue like this, I don\u2019t know what the future holds.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that the PURC often slashed proposed tariff figures despite GWCL providing all required parameters. <\/p>\n

\u201cEvery time there\u2019s a formula for calculating the tariff, we input in all the parameters and come out to the figure,\u201d he explained. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut then the PURC in its wisdom will also come out with some other parameters and then slash it down to a very low figure.\u201d<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Martey made it clear that a constant, uninterrupted water supply cannot happen under the prevailing financial conditions. <\/p>\n

\u201cOkay, so for now we have admitted every time that there\u2019s a gap between demand and supply,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cTo 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

He stressed that the new tariff is nowhere near what is required to fund expansion, clear debts or secure loans for new projects. <\/p>\n

\u201cThese 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

\u201cLet\u2019s 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,\u201d he said. \u201cThis tariff cannot do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said GWCL will keep the system running as efficiently as possible, but demand management remains the only realistic option. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"GalamseyGhana 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.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[196,8254,1906,1883,10,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-106137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-galamsey","category-ghana-water-company-limited-gwcl","category-hp-news-5","category-national","category-politics","category-popular"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=106137"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106137\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=106137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=106137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=106137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}