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Friday, 30 March 2012

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Fuel adjustment charge on electricity - domestic consumers

With the revised electricity tariffs which came into effect on 1.1.2011 the FAC of 30% imposed on consumers who consumed more than 90 units per month was removed. Nevertheless there was an increase in the unit charge in respect of domestic consumers who consumed between 90 to 180 units and also the fixed charge as shown in the table below. It will be observed from this table that the fixed charge was reduced in the case of those who consume less than 90 units.

Category – domestic

 

In the case of domestic consumer between 90 to 180 units, among them there may be middle class householders in urban areas who use utility items such as a refrigerator, fan, an iron and the FAC now imposed will have a far reaching impact on their cost of living. They are now not considered as luxury items.

In the circumstances, I wish to request the President who is also the Finance Minister and also the Power and Energy Minister and the Public Utilities Commission to consider fixing the FAC at 30% as prevailed earlier in respect of domestic consumers who consume above 30 units and in the case of those who consume more than 180 units imposition of FAC at 40% may be considered, if necessary.

It is a matter for concern that the PUC did not call for the views of consumers before the imposition of the FAC.


Ensuring road discipline

I refer to the newspaper article appearing in the 'Daily News' of 13th March on the subject of ensuring road discipline.

Whilst appreciating the point system for traffic offences, it appears that you have missed out a few major traffic offences committed mostly by motor cyclists and three wheeler drivers, namely, that within or between marked traffic lanes, both motor cyclists and three wheeler drivers attempt to ‘creep through’ running parallel to or across the lanes, causing inconvenience to other motorists.

Very often despite the presence of traffic police it is customary to see this type of non-observance of traffic rules, where each vehicle is expected to follow in a single file in the demarcated traffic lanes. Unfortunately traffic officers do not pull-up or book offending riders or drivers. Perhaps it may be due to the large numbers of such offenders and their traffic offence book being insufficient to accommodate.

At times even private bus drivers zig-zag across marked traffic lanes without any signals. The drivers of tippers which have seen an increase on the roads recently, use their ‘height’ and ‘weight’ to intimidate on-coming or parallel traffic by cutting in to their path. This type of highway thuggery must be stopped. To illustrate this point I attach a recent photograph taken by me and trust it would be of use to eliminate this problem.


India and Sri Lanka in Geneva

What has happened has now happened. Well, why did this happen? President Mahinda Rajapaksa did not do anything wrong. He only removed the activities of the terrorists who massacred innocent people by the hundreds and further made many disabled, while the rest living in this island of ours was forced to live in constant fear.

Sri Lanka and also India paid the highest cost for terrorism when Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa and Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi met with their unfortunate deaths in the yester years.

Besides, the friendship maintained by the rulers of these two countries go back to the era of one of the greatest rulers of India; King Asoka who had the good faith to send his son and also his daughter, Arahath Mahinda and Therani Sangamittha with the message of Buddhism to the then ruler of Sri Lanka, King Devanam Piyatissa.

Similarly, in the distant past the prime minister of these two countries such as Jawaharlal Nehru with Sir John Kotalawala, S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike and Sirimavo Bandaranaike and thereafter Indira Gandhi with Sirimavo Bandaranaike and J. R. Jayewardene did continue these tremendous ties continuously and faithfully.

That was why President J. R. Jayewardene went to the extent of signing an agreement with the then Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi to put an end to the crucial war during his rule though it was not that successful. In one of the SAARC summits held in India, President J .R. Jayewardene said during his address: “Every bullet, whether it is a terrorist bullet or a bullet from my security services kills a person. This goes deep into my heart and I do not know how to stop it”. Also when concluding the address he said “I am a lover of India. I am a friend of its leader and friend of its people, and I am a follower of its greatest son the Gouthama Buddha”.

That was the highest mentality that had been maintained all throughout between these two countries. Why has this been deviated from this time in Geneva?


The plight of Samurdhi beneficiaries

Employees of the Water Board and the Electricity Board demanded for salary increases. Their trade unions first launched picketing campaigns simultaneously threatening strike action if their demands were not met before their deadline. To appease them the government granted salary increases almost matching their demands. So much for trade union action!

To make up the additional expenditure on salaries, the Electricity Board thereafter introduced Additional Fuel Charges which is an additional burden on consumers.

The purpose of this letter is to highlight the plight of Samurdhi Beneficiaries. For years now they receive only a paltry sum with which they cannot meet the skyrocketed cost of living. Worse is the situation that they cannot even have their voices heard as they have no trade union mechanism.

 

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