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CEB will be depoliticised to salvage it from present crisis - Karu Jayasuriya

by Ranil Wijayapala

Power and Energy Minister Karu Jayasuriya told a press conference yesterday that the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) will be depoliticised and changed into a professional institute to salvage it from the present crisis.

The highly politicised environment in the CEB during the PA regime has dragged the CEB into a deep crisis due to political interference in decision making, the Minister added.

He said the CEB which was handed over to the PA Government as a profit making body with a surplus of Rs.5,688 million is now being operated with a Rs.11 billion overdraft.

An Inquiry will be held to find those responsible for the deep financial crisis of the CEB. "We are not doing these things with vengeance or to blame the previous regime," he said.

Minister Jayasuriya said he has talked to some banks to reduce the interest on the overdraft to lessen the burden on the CEB to a certain extent.

He said that a decision will also be taken to revise electricity charges as the CEB charges only Rs.4 for a unit of electricity which it produces at a rate of Rs.10. These changes will be done without burdening low income groups and the industrial sector.

Steps will be taken to supply 300,000 households and institutions with electricity meters to prevent the wastage of electricity and recover lost income.

Minister Karu Jayasuriya said the assistance of professionals in the power and energy sector will be sought irrespective of their political affiliations to provide a better power supply for the country.

A National Energy Council headed by Prof. Mohan Gunasinghe will be appointed to make recommendations for the CEB to uplift the power sector.

Prompt decisions will be taken to expedite proposed power plant projects. A decision has already been taken to establish a 300 MW coal fired power plant but the appropriate place will be decided within a few weeks, the Minister added.

The establishment of wood fuel power plants as recommended by power sector specialists will be given priority as it has been considered the most appropriate method of power generation for the country.

Sri Lanka has the potential to generate 1000 MW through the establishment of wood fuel power plants and to provide a permanent income for chena cultivators, the Minister added.

Fifty four persons who have forwarded applications to establish mini hydro power projects will be summoned to accelerate the installation of mini hydropower plants countrywide as a solution to the power crisis. 

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