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Monday, 04 March 2002  
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Power crisis

The crisis in management that this country has been witnessing has been nowhere apparent as in the power industry.

We are now paying for the folly of depending solely on hydropower. The fact that we are getting less and less rainfall due to the El Nino phenomenon and the diminishing of the forest cover was known several years ago. Experts have duly warned the authorities on the same.

Further, development of industry as well as the improvement of living facilities for the population hassled to an annual increase of power consumption by nearly 10 percent. Every time the reservoirs ran dry or the water levels in them decreased alarmingly, the only remedy was to impose power cuts and import generators.

There was never a comprehensive plan to meet the situation. Even the emergency plans drawn were either shelved or abandoned due to political expediencies.

It has to be accepted that we cannot depend on hydropower alone. Alternative sources of power have to be identified and developed. As a poor developing country we have to look for cheaper means of producing power. In this sense, coal provides a comparatively cheap source of energy.

The failure to build the proposed coal power plant is one of the major contributory factors for the present crisis. The Government must, even at this late stage, revive the coal power project.

The CEB must take much of the blame for the present unhealthy situation. Corruption and mismanaged has plagued it for a long time. Meanwhile, consumers have been paying for the follies of the CEB by way of increased electricity fares etc.

Power and Energy Minister Karu Jayasuriya, upon assuming office promised to end power cuts in 180 days. He even promised to resign, if he could not solve the power crisis within that period. The gentleman he is, he has even recently reiterated his promise to resign.

We believe, the Minister may have been misinformed of the gravity of the crisis for today, even before the expiry of three months; we are in a worse situation where the consumers have to undergo a five-hour power cut.

It is sad to note that even consumers do not feel the seriousness of the crisis. Wastage of electricity continued unabated in public sector and government institutions, with nobody caring for. Carnivals and feasts continued to consume huge loads of electricity.

It was only very recently that the CEB clamped restrictions on such wastage. Public awareness of the need for preserving electricity should be increased, if we are to forgo total blackouts in the days to come.

A National emergency task force should be set up to explore both short term and long term measures to overcome the power crisis. All options for producing electricity should be looked into.

While the private sector should be encouraged to produce their own power requirements, those that are produced in excess should be bought and absorbed into the national grid.

Provincial Councils and local authorities like the Municipalities should also explore the possibility of producing alternative power such as wind power, solar power and sea wave power.

Various individuals have come forward with numerous suggestions and proposals both for the preservation and production of electricity.

They should be seriously considered and any entrepreneurs venturing into the field of electricity production should be encouraged and rewarded.

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