Over 500 jobs have been lost between January and March 2015, due to a combination of economic problems and\u00a0the energy crisis.<\/p>\n
This is according to\u00a0the\u00a0Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU).<\/p>\n
[contextly_sidebar id=”wP9FqiiUP2a62DAT9jf9WkWq2ST3Hdgc”]The ICU is appealing to government to, as matter of urgency, direct the National Petroleum Authority(NPA) to reduce prices of petroleum products\u00a0 drastically to avert redundancies that are directly caused by the power crisis.<\/p>\n
Secretary General of ICU, Mr. Solomon Kotei, in an interview with The Finder newspaper, described as alarming the rate at which redundancies that are directly caused by the rolling power cuts are being carried out.<\/p>\n
“From January to date, 560 workers belonging to ICU Have been laid off,” he said.<\/p>\n
The break down includes 238 by Cocoa Cola Company Limited, 180 by Mantrac Ghana, 58 by Cadbury Ghana Limited and 26 by Novotel Hotel.<\/p>\n
Mr. Kotei said his outfit is inundated with redundancy letters from manufacturing companies.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of the manufacturing companies and hospitality industries, infact the overheads are becoming astronomical.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe indications that we are getting almost ever4y day is becoming disturbing\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mr. Kotei was of the view that reducing fuel prices to reflect world market price of crude oil would demonstrate government\u2019s commitment to at least avert redundancies that are caused directly by the ongoing power crisis.<\/p>\n
\u201cCurrently if the employer buys fuel at reasonable price that reflects that price of crude oil on the world market and makes other sacrifices, it would save jobs,\u201d he said.He explained that the drop in crude oil prices from $1113 to $45 warrants a drastic reduction.<\/p>\n
Experts say the ex-refinery price is 57% of ex-pump price, implying that the over 13 different taxes and levies constitute 43% of the price of petroleum products.<\/p>\n
Mr. Kotei said the refusal by government to give any meaningful reason for maintaining the price is a serious absurdity.<\/p>\n
He noted that as a result of the Automatic Adjustment Formula agreed for utilities, government constantly increased fuel prices when the world market price of crude oil was going up.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you want to make profit out of your own citizens it is madness,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He asked whether government was using the windfall from the high prices of petroleum products to service the country\u2019s mounting debts?<\/p>\n
The ICU Secretary General expressed worry about government\u2019s total silence on the matter and its unwillingness to subject the issue to debate, saying such attitudes give way to ordinary Ghanaians to offer interpretations.<\/p>\n
He warned that the unemployment situation in the country could worsen if drastic measures are not taken to address the power crisis.<\/p>\n
The adjustment of the Energy Fund Levy on Petroleum Products from Gp0.05 to Gp1.0, part of which would be used to establish the Renewable Energy Fund, is expected to result in increases in the prices of petroleum products.<\/p>\n
Also, subsidies on petroleum products, totalling GH50 million cedis are expected to be scrapped as part of the bailout plan.<\/p>\n
These job cuts are different from the ones announced by Tullow Ghana and Coca cola.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: The Finder<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Over 500 jobs have been lost between January and March 2015, due to a combination of economic problems and\u00a0the energy crisis. This is according to\u00a0the\u00a0Industrial and Commercial Workers Union (ICU). [contextly_sidebar id=”wP9FqiiUP2a62DAT9jf9WkWq2ST3Hdgc”]The ICU is appealing to government to, as matter of urgency, direct the National Petroleum Authority(NPA) to reduce prices of petroleum products\u00a0 drastically to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":99701,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[43,38,4],"yoast_head":"\n