[ 2016-11-23 ]

We did not inflate cost of borehole project—PURC
The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC)
did not inflate the cost of the borehole project
to give money to the governing National Democratic
Congress (NDC) in the December 7 presidential and
parliamentary elections, Nana Yaa Jantuah, the
commission’s Public Relations Officer, has
denied.

Her denial follows claims by a former General
Secretary of the main opposition New Patriotic
Party (NPP), Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie that the
utilities regulatory body is conniving with the
governing NDC to inflate the prices of government
projects to help the party finance its campaign.

According to Sir John, as he is popularly known,
government’s intention of constructing one
borehole at a cost of GHS 60,000 instead of GHS
18,000 is enough evidence that government is
corrupt.

“It doesn’t make sense, having spoken to the
players in the industry of the cost of drilling a
borehole. The price that the PURC is asking
government to pay, especially on sole sourcing, to
be allowed to drill a single borehole at the cost
of GHS60,000 does not make sense as far as people
in the industry are concerned,” Sir John, told
Class News’ Kwesi Parker-Wilson.

But speaking in an interview with Emefa Apawu on
Class91.3FM’s 505 news programme on Tuesday
November 22, Ms Jantuah said: “I am lost for
words because if you talk about borehole, they are
a water provision system and there are different
kinds of system that are done for different kinds
of people, communities, and neighbourhoods. What
we are doing is an integrated water system, which
includes so many parts.

“We have the submersible pump, not a manual
pump. If you are using a manual pump, that one
doesn’t use electricity and that is the one that
he (Sir John) is talking about. We also have
electrical panel that will power this submersible
pump. We have a tank, we also have a platform that
the tank will be on it, we also have pipes and
lines that we put together so that the water that
comes out will be able reach certain places where
the people cannot walk to fetch the water. So, it
is a complete integrated community water system.
We even carried out chemical analysis before
putting this system into place.

“If you are doing a borehole in your house,
whatever comes out of that borehole, it is you
alone drinking and using it but if you are going
to produce the system for a whole community that
is deprived and without good source of drinking
water…it will not be an ordinary borehole that
we will put in our houses (that would be provided
for them). These are boreholes with submersible
pump – that is electronic, with pump house. You
have to build a pump house because the pump has to
be protected; it is not in your home. If it is in
your home, nobody is going to steal it.
She added: “This project wasn’t started today,
this project was started somewhere in 2007 and we
have had incidents where contractors have come and
they don’t have the expertise in building this
integrated water system. We did sole source
because we wanted the right kind of people to do
this system and when it is in the community and it
breaks down, because the person didn’t do it
well, the community will lack water.

“He (Sir John) said we have also inflated
figures to give money for the NDC to do campaign.
This project is not coming on this year; we just
finished the sole-sourcing. Even if we are putting
one system in place, do you know how long it will
take to complete? So how do we say we have
inflated prices to give money to the NDC to do
campaign? We are a regulatory institution and
nobody should bring us into any political realm.
We are an independent regulator and that is what
we do.”

Source - Classfmonline

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