Location for coal power plant to be decided

Manjula Fernando and Nadira Gunatilleke

COLOMBO: A location for the proposed 500 MW mega coal power plant in Trincomalee, envisaged as a joint venture between the Governments of Sri Lanka and India, is to be decided this month.

Power and Energy Minister John Seneviratne told the weekly Cabinet press briefing at the Information Department yesterday that officials are to visit India shortly to finalise the discussions on the site of the power plant.

"Sampur with a vast extent of bare land has been identified as the most plausible location but the final decision will be taken after the trip to India," the Minister said.

This power plant will be the second of the three coal power plants projected to contribute a total of 3200 MW to the national grid by 2012 to bring down electricity bill through cheap sources.

The others are Norochcholai power plant and the proposed coal power plant in Hambantota.

Sri Lanka's annual electricity demand goes up by eight per cent to 10 per cent (150 MW) but the generation has been idling for the past few years without any effective projects taking off the ground resulting in the current crisis in the power sector, the Minister said.

The country depends on hydro power for 35 per cent electricity generation while the rest 65 per cent is generated by thermal power, the reason for very high rates. But the State still draws a Rs. 50 million loss a day for selling electricity below the generating costs.

The Minister said the President has directed the ministry to take effective measures to increase power generation to fulfil the country's target of achieving an eight per cent growth rate. Thus, they have set in motion the upper Kotmale 150 MW hydro power project and the 300 MW Kerawalapitiya plant that will be started as a thermal plant and later converted into natural gas.

The Government is also funding the alternative power projects like wind power, and sugar dust projects, that is expected to contribute another 350 MW to the national grid, he said. At present 78 per cent households have been supplied with electricity. This is an outstanding achievement when compared to India and Bangladesh that has covered only 46 per cent and 38 per cent households, the Minister said.

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Cabinet nod for Kuwait, Iraq war victims compensation

Nadira Gunatilleke

COLOMBO: Cabinet has granted approval to a memorandum submitted by Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare Minister Keheliya Rambukwella to compensate victims of the 1990/1991 Kuwait and Iraq war who could not obtain compensation due to uncompleted or outdated applications forwarded by them to obtain compensation, Information and Media Minister and Cabinet Spokesman Anura Priyadarshana Yapa said.

Yapa said about 120,000 Sri Lankans lost their jobs during the Kuwait war and United Nations Compensation Commission had approved US$ 308 million (Rs. 1.9 billion).

About 5,945 applications forwarded requesting compensation were rejected because the applicants could not prove their identity and the truthfulness of their requests. They failed to submit required information. During a survey in 2000, about 11,247 credible applications were received, he said.

With the 4,253 applications which were rejected first and approved later, the total number of eligible applications for compensation is 15,500. Cabinet approval has been granted to pay Rs. 75,000 for each compensation recipient, he added.