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CEB engineers to meet Pavithra for crisis talks

08 Mar 2022

 
  • Requests meeting to submit proposals to new Minister
  • PUCSL begins public hearings into 3 Dec. national outage
  • Ex-CEB GM Ranatunga hints at CEBEU act of sabotage
  The Ceylon Electricity Board Engineers’ Union (CEBEU) has requested a meeting with newly appointed Power Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi within the course of this week to submit their proposals to resolve the prevailing power crisis in the country. “We hope to meet Wanniarachchi this week to discuss the prevailing power crisis as we have been promised a discussion. We hope to give our own proposals on immediate solutions to the crisis,” CEBEU President Anil Ranjith told The Morning yesterday (7). With rapidly declining water reserves for the generation of hydropower (as Sri Lanka is experiencing its drought season) and a severe fuel shortage hampering the powering of its thermal power stations, the CEB has been imposing nearly eight-hour-long daily power cuts over the past couple of weeks. In February, then Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila admitted in Parliament that the ongoing US dollar crisis has led to a challenging situation with regard to fuel imports. Public dissatisfaction and criticisms has been seen in the form of various protests over the past couple of weeks, with citizens heavily inconvenienced by the lengthy power outages. In this backdrop, Wanniarachchi was appointed as the Power Minister on 3March, following her predecessor Gamini Lokuge’s new appointment as Energy Minister. This Cabinet of Ministers reshuffle came with the sacking of Ministers Udaya Gammanpila and Wimal Weerawansa from their posts, after they criticised Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa and called for reforms of economic policies to combat the fuel and power crises. Meanwhile, the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) began its public hearings on the islandwide power outage that occurred on 3 December 2021. During the first day of its hearings on 2 March, engineer and former CEB General Manager (GM) M.R. Ranatunga hinted that the said power outage could have been a deliberate act of sabotage by the CEBEU. At the time, the CEBEU was engaged in a trade union action against the New Fortress Energy Inc. agreement penned with the Government of Sri Lanka for a US-based energy company to acquire shares in the Yugadanavi Power Plant in Kerawalapitiya.


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