The Managing Director, Gossy Natural Spring Water, a subsidiary of UACN, Mrs. Folake Oshinyemi has decried the huge cost electricity takes in the total cost of operation of manufacturers.
She lamented that the firm spends between 40 and 60 per cent of its total costs on power generation, noting that it has impacted on the cost of the finished products.
She said: “It’s ridiculous that the government wants us to pay for what we cannot claim to have used in a whole year. In the last one year, we have generated our own power in our factory in Ikogosi, Ekiti State.”
Oshinyemi, who spoke to The Nation, regretted that Nigerians have been compelled to become a mini-local government as they now provide all their infrastruc-tural needs, such as roads, water, electricity and others.
“Here, we generate our power, tar our roads and are made to pay taxes and levies; now they are increasing tariffs for power that is not supplied to us. The government should, therefore, ensure that the electricity distribution companies (DisCos) and the generation companies (GenCos) are effectively supported to ensure adequate power supply,” she added.
On the effect of the foreign exchange policy, she said: “The forex policy has deeply affected our operations, but the truth is that as a nation, we badly managed our economy and our natural resources, especially oil. As we all know, the components of Gossy bottled water and the sachet water are all by-products of petrochemical products.
“Unfortunately, we import resins which are a by-product of the petrochemical industry and whenever the cost of dollar is up, it affects us as manufacturers. Everything we use, apart from the water itself is imported, a serious country desirous of growing her economy cannot continue like this.
“We are made to pay all manner of taxes; we pay company income tax, education tax, including withholding tax. In addition we are made to pay VAT (value added tax) on the materials that we use in making the water. In our local community where we function, our company is made to pay environmental premises levy. The Nation
