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| Thursday, 17 July 2003 |
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by Rashomi Silva The Public Utility Commission (PUC), the proposed watchdog body supervising the activities of all public utilities is likely to come into being later this month, a senior power sector official told the Daily News yesterday. The PUC will have the responsibility of regulating the activities of power, telecom, transport and other public utilities after the proposed reforms are put in place. With the appointment of the PUC tentatively fixed for this month the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has expressed its optimism of sticking to its original schedule of starting the CEB's restructuring programme in this October. However,the official said that there is a possibility of the schedule date being pushed back . "We have only two months left. Therefore, it is possible to change the restructuring time table," he said. He said that there is a misunderstanding in the power sector trade union movement that the power sector reforms will deprive them of some of the privileges they are now enjoying, and they demand hard on pay hikes" and added that the CEB workers were recently granted a 40 per cent back dated salary increase from year 2000. Meanwhile, Power and Energy Minister Karu Jayasuriya said that the rights and the privileges of the workers will be more safeguarded under the proposed companies. Further there will be better prospects for carrier advancement. The restructuring of the power sector is nothing new to the world. Countries such as China and India have undertaken power sector restructuring as it is vital for a developing nation, the official added. ACEB trade union official speaking to the Daily News said that they were supportive of the reforms but wanted their rights and privileges to be safeguarded. Under the new power sector reforms the CEB and the LECO will be divided into seven companies dedicated for generation, transmission, distribution and administration. |
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