Ghanaians should expect to be pay extra for sachet water as producers in the country plan to increase prices from 20 pesewas to 30 pesewas per sachet.
The new prices, which will take effect later this week, are direct off cuts of the recent utility and fuel price hikes which saw a 67.2% increase in the utility tariffs for water.
[contextly_sidebar id=”masyM6u1mBJ7rzDUJzuopsGRRqMJKNqm”]The president of the Association of Sachet and Packaged Water Producers, Magnus Nunoo, confirmed this increase in price and expressed frustration at the Public Utilities Regulation Commission’s (PURC) decision to make producers of sachet water pay GHc 50 for a cubic meter of water.
He further drew comparison to the producers of beer, like the Accra Brewery, who are paying GHc 10 per cubic meter.
Mr Nunoo is therefore demanding an explanation for why producers of sachet and bottled have to pay more for water than others.
“We are demanding answers from the PURC.” Mr Nunoo said. “For the first time you’ve categorised and separated bottled water from all of them and slapped five times. Definitely it’s going to go up to 30 pesewas.”
Mr Nunoo went on to suggest the price of sachet water could increase further if the PURC does not address the current situation where they pay five times more than the breweries.
“What I know for now is the 30 pesewas is the first step so if they do not do anything about it and do not correct the anomaly we will come out with a second price,” he concluded.
Mr Nunoo also revealed his association will be holding a press conference tomorrow on the issue.
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By Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana