The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has warned the public against illegal connections of utilities as that can truncate regular flow of potable water and electricity supply.

Mr Issahaku Mashoud Yakubu, the Northern Regional Manager of PURC said the activities of the illegal connections resulted in a lot of crisis in the utility companies and consequently affected their delivery.

He gave the warning during an interactive forum organised by the PURC in Tamale to create a platform for customers and utility service providers to share ideas that would enrich the process of service in the region.

The event was also to offer the utility service providers an opportunity to explain the nature of their operations and the challenges they face to foster a better understanding and appreciation of their operations to reduce agitations and speculations among the consumers.

Mr Yakubu described illegal connections as unethical and a criminal offence, which could lead perpetrators to jail and appealed to the consumers to pay their bills promptly for better services.

Mr Maxwell Kofi Kotoka, Manager, Corporate Communications of Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) mentioned some of the challenges in the delivery of electricity power to consumers as unplanned outages.

He said for some time now, there were unplanned outages, low voltage supply in some areas, incessant power fluctuations due to lack of resources to build up the service.

He appealed to government to allocate more resources to replace over-aged equipment and urged the stakeholders to play significant roles to increase electricity power service to improve their economic activities.

Mr Nii-Abbey Nicholas, the Communication Officer of the Northern and Upper Regions of Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) in his presentation said the challenges of inadequate supply of water in the Northern Region was largely blamed on pollution of water bodies, low investment in the sector and change of weather.

According to him, the challenge with water was largely natural, because “we are in the dry season”, he said adding, “There is more demand than what we are able to supply to our consumers in the North”.

Mr Nii-Abbey promised that NEDco would stabilise power for the company to produce consistently.

Some of the participants called on the managements of the companies to develop legal policies to address illegal use of water and electricity to deter people from indulging in it.