The Tema District Council of Labour is threatening to embark on a demonstration to protest the recent hikes in petroleum products.
The Council has given government an ultimatum to reverse prices of petroleum products or face the wrath of its members.
The National Petroleum Authority (NPA) recently increased fuel prices by 9%, arguing that the increase is as a result of the increment of the price of crude oil on the international market. The Council however said government had shown bad faith since it had promised a reduction instead.
In an interview with Citi News, the Chairman of the Council, Wilson Agana said they have been compelled to protest because government is taking the Ghanaian worker for granted.
“…They think we are not serious and they can take us for a ride but now enough is enough. By Tuesday our government is going out and we think that they cannot ride us the way they are riding us. We are sending a letter of notification of our demonstration to the Police,” he stated.
He believes government will be compelled to address the Council’s concerns after it embarks on a demonstration.
“They make unnecessary unguided statements… after the demonstration when we all seated in the house for one week and we don’t go to work then they will also sit up. We are going to go on demonstration upon demonstration.
Aside the Council some stakeholders in the country have expressed their dissatisfaction with the recent increment and have called on government to address the problem.
The 2016 Presidential Candidate for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Nana Akufo Addo recently asked government to significantly reduce or remove taxes on diesel and petroleum products to show it is sensitive.
“If the automatic adjustment pricing formula says nothing can be done about the increases in the prices of petroleum products, even though when the world market price of crude oil went down, the equivalent reduction in petroleum price did not take place, government can, at least, ease the suffering of Ghanaians and business by reducing significantly, or at best abolishing, the taxes on diesel and petroleum products. That will be a sign of a sensitive government,” Nana Addo said.
Nana Addo stated that considering the effects of a 3-year power crisis, a responsible government should have ensured that the prices of fuel are not increased.
