Following an apparent standoff involving the government, vice chancellors and students of various tertiary institutions over the payment of utility bills, the Ghana Union of Professional Students (GUPS) has waded into the debate, calling on Vice Chancellors to regulate the number and use of appliances in the universities.
In a statement signed by the Union’s President, Elorm Mawuli Kwawu, GUPS argued that comprehensive regulation of the number of electrical appliances that students in tertiary institutions are permitted to use would “make utility cost bearable for both government and University administrators and tackle the perennial problem of huge debt owed by these Institutions from its roots.”
[contextly_sidebar id=”yH2PPNWM0wWCtX8A2jnHdo2ELJ8BN0yG”]The call was made following a National Executive Committee of the Union and has since been communicated to Ministry of Education .
GUPS added in its statement that “the pending tension between government, Vice Chancellors Ghana and the Student front on ways of defraying Utility debts will be cyclical if government and Vice Chancellors Ghana do not take these drastic measures.”
The tension between the management of the Universities and the student unions appears to have escalated in recent weeks with the vice-chancellors threatening to shut down their institutions if bills owed the Electricity Company of Ghana are not paid.
Several institutions have had to be shut down after failure to pay their utility bills resulted in their disconnection from the grid.
The student unions have said they will resist any attempt to transfer utility costs to their members, adding that they had received assurances from government that it would continue paying the subsidies.
In the statement, GUPS also called on Utility Service Providers to bill all commercial outlets, staff bungalows, churches and other entities on University campuses independently from the Halls of residence and academic facilities as they are not factored in government subvention plans but have over the years contributed substantially to these debts.”
By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana