Thursday, 24 December 2020 - 16:10
Referring to the statements made by Cabinet Spokesperson Minister Keheliya Ramukwella at the recent Cabinet briefing, National Organizer for National Coalition for Protecting Civil Rights, Anuruddha Somathunga questioned whether the issues with the Ceylon Electricity Board only arose in the last three years.
He also questioned as to why the CEB was incurring a loss since 2015.
The National Organizer made these comments at a media briefing held today (24) regarding the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka.
He further emphasized that PUCSL is an organization that stands for the rights of the people and will not be allowed to abolish.
The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), in its Statistical Digest for 2019, reports that a sum of Rs. 46.68 billion was spent on importing coal for operating its coal power plant at Norochcholai during 2019. The quantity imported is not given.
The Central Bank, in its Annual Report for 2019, reports that the CIF value of coal imported in 2019 was Rs. 38.72 billion (Table 33 in Statistical Appendix). It is noted that a small fraction of this is consumed by the Cement Plant at Puttalam.
Such a difference may be attributed to any taxes paid to the Government, legitimate commission paid to the agent, mark-up by Lanka Coal Company who imports coal on behalf of the CEB, and the cost of unloading of coal onto barges and transporting to the site.
By Ifham Nizam
Utilities regulator, the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) would not be dissolved but the government would appoint a new board of directors as its incumbent directorate had resigned, a senior power sector official said.
When contacted, the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) Chairman, Eng. Vijitha Herath told
The Island that the PUCSL new board would be appointed shortly.
Power and Energy Ministry strongly says the role of the PUCSL is of paramount importance as almost all CEB engineers have stressed the importance of its functions.
“It cannot be dissolved without parliamentary approval,” another official said.
Last week, Secretary to the President, Dr. P. B. Jayasundera instructed Treasury Secretary S.R. Attygalle to take steps to close down the PUCSL, absorb the technical staff into the National Planning Department and the Power Ministry.
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Tuesday, 22 December 2020 - 15:01
Speaking at the Cabinet press briefing today (22), Cabinet Spokesperson, Minister Keheliya Rambukwella stated that the Government is not looking to abolish the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL), but to appoint an alternative organization similar to that.
He explained that within a year, the Government has observed major incompetencies with the PUCSL which they hope to correct with the alternative option.
He added that the new organization will be appointed following the discussions with the Finance Ministry as well as the President’s Office which would also decide the powers that will be vested with the new organization.