Students paying utility bills terrible gov't decision - Awuku

National Youth Organiser of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Sammy Awuku has said Government will not have dealt fairly with students if it implements its decision for students in tertiary institutions to pay for their utility bills.

The decision, according to him, is unfair to the students and their families who are already struggling to make ends meet in the worsening economic conditions in the country.

Speaking on Peace FM's morning show 'Kokrokoo', Sammy Awuku said, “the worst thing Government can do is to force students to pay utility bills”.

Citing the scrapping of the allowances paid to teacher trainees in the various training colleges in the country as a poor decision which has not helped most of the students, Mr Awuku said a similar thing cannot be allowed to happen with utilities.

The situation contributed to the heckling of the Deputy Ministers of Education and for Communication, at the Wesley College of Education in the Ashanti Regional capital, Kumasi.

He noted that although he does not support the attack on the deputy ministers, the students did not know how to channel their anger about the situation.

Ghana Water Company Limited, as part of strategies to retrieve monies owed it by some businesses, institutions and individuals, embarked on disconnection exercise which is expected to force consumers pay their bills.

Government subvented institutions and public offices were hardest hit by this exercise.

Water supply to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and the Kumasi Polytechnic were cut over their failure to pay bills. KNUST however, settled their bills and water supply was restored.

Deputy Education Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, during a visit to the Kumasi Polytechnic informed its rector Professor Nsowa Nuamah that students in tertiary institutions across the country will be required to pay for their water and electricity bills in the next academic year.

This according to him is to complement the Government's efforts in paying for such essential services in order to make campus life more comfortable and also to prevent future disconnections.

However, Mr Awuku said the move is inappropriate. Payment of bills by the students in his view will not solve the problem.

He said finding a rather sustainable solution to the problem is the best thing to do in the current challenging environment.

Parents of students who are already struggling to pay the high fees and provide other resources for their wards in school cannot be made to pay these bills, he said.

“Government must quickly act and solve the problems at the student front”, he concluded.

Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Naa Sakwaba Akwa | [email protected]