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Six month deadline to revive power sector

by Ranil Wijayapala

Power and Energy Minister Karu Jayasuriya yesterday held out an assurance that the country's, power sector will be revived within 180 days to provide uninterrupted power supply.

The Minister told the media at the Mahaweli Centre that urgent decisions will be taken to purchase emergency power from the private sector by following transparent tender procedures to fill the gap between the exact power demand and the power generation capacity of the country.

"We still maintain our stand that there is no need of a Power and Energy Ministry if the country's power supply depends only on the rainfall," he said.

The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) is in a deep crisis due non-functioning of seven hydro power plants and due to the reduced water levels of reservoirs confining power generation only for 18 days.

Steps will also be taken to repair the power plants which have broken down due to various reasons and to add more power plants to the national grid within next few months.

He said that there was a 500 MW surplus when the PA Government took over the CEB and it is now operating with a deficit 200 MW considering power generation and the demand, Minister Jayasuriya added.

He appealed to the public to bear with the power cuts enforced due to the reduced water levels of the reservoirs.

"Theoretically we need to enforce three to four hour power cuts a day but, we are enforcing only one hour power cuts considering the students sitting for the examination and also the festive season.

He also appealed to the public to cut down their electricity consumption by fifty per cent during this period of national crisis.

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