To make CEB profitable:

Minister wants employees' support

Suraj A. Bandara

Power and Energy Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka pledged to convert the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) into a profitable institution irrespective of its annual loss of Rs. 30 billion if all CEB employees support him.

It is unacceptable that why the CEB incurs such irreparable losses while supplying power uninterruptedly to a massive number of domestic consumers, the Minister said.

The Minister made these comments at a meeting of SLEB employees in Rathnapura recently. He said he was committed to put an end to the SLEB's biggest strain on the country's economy. Employees should provide their maximum support to streamline the CEB and install a transparent system which will help prevent malpractices. The employee factor is critical and they can steer the institution for bankruptcy or prosperity, he said. He asked every CEB employee to support him to make the CEB productive and profitable. The Minister said due to the massive losses incurred annually by the CEB, four other government institutions are in the red. The CEB has contributed for the downfall of the Inland Revenue Department, Bank of Ceylon, Petroleum Corporation and Sri Lanka Customs, he said.

He wanted to replace old machines with productive and efficient ones. "We have costly old machines to generate power and they need constant repairs. So, old methodologies have to be kept aside, he said.

He said employees should not capitalize on the soft administrative rules and cause unrest in the CEB.

The Mafia like groups who have swallowed the CEB under their authority will be crushed, he said.

Five year plan to make the CEB a profitable institution is the aim, the Minister said.