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Some categories used for CEB’s allowances “ridiculous”: COPE

23 Jun 2022

‘Reading the meter and reading the meter correctly' are some of the categories used for the payment of allowances at the Ceylon Electricity Board and they are ridiculous, says COPE Chairman Prof. Charitha Herath. He made this statement while speaking at the COPE meeting today (23). It was discussed at the meeting that the decision taken by the the Cabinet of Ministers on 14th November 2008 and the payment of various staff allowances to the staff from time to time with the approval of the Board of Directors contrary to the provisions of the Management Services Circular No. 39 of 26th May 2009. It was further revealed that Rs. 2,134.9 million has been provided as these allowances in the year 2021 and Rs. 1,544.4 million in the year 2020, and Prof. Herath noted that there should be accountability for this money as it is public money, and mentioned that the annual expenditure of the CEB exceeds the revenue expected by the Inland Revenue Department through all taxes. He mentioned that this was an important matter that needed immediate attention. Meanwhile, the decision taken by the Cabinet in December 2007 to revise the salaries and when the collective agreement was reached in May 2015, it was decided to shift the liability for PAYE and Advanced Personal Income Tax (APIT) to the employees but from 2010 onwards. It was also revealed during the meeting that the CEB had paid Rs. 4.8 billion (PAYE / APIT) in taxes from its fund without deducting the salaries of the employees till 2020, and officials who were present pointed out that the payment of this tax has been stopped by now. It was also noted that based on the collective agreement, the CEB had increased the salaries of employees by 25% in the year 2021, and Prof Herath further noted that this was not a legal document as it was an unfinished draft agreement as the relevant parties, employers and unions had not signed the draft. Accordingly, the adverse impact on the Board due to this unauthorized payment was approximately Rs. 9.6 billion, the COPE explained. The COPE chairman pointed out that when looking at this, the institution appears to be non-state-owned. Furthermore, according to the 2018-2034 long term power generation plan, the Seethawaka River Hydro Power Project should have been implemented by 2022. Accordingly, discussions were held regarding the suspension of the project at a cost of Rs. 301.19 million at the end of 2020. The MPs stated that it seems like the feasibility study at a cost of Rs. 301.19 million has been carried out and that the project has been dropped halfway, indicating that it is not up to the appropriate feasibility level. Therefore, it was recommended that a full report be submitted to the COPE. In addition, a consignment of coal purchased from Taurian Iron & steel Co. Pvt. Ltd (TISCL) through Ceylon Coal Company (LCC) in 2013 could not be unloaded due to the monsoon, and the annual new generation of power generated according to the long-term generation plan was varied. Extraction from power plants and various energy sources was also discussed at length. Minister Mahinda Amaraweera, MPs Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Rohitha Abeygunawardana, Indika Anuruddha, Eran Wickramaratne, Dr. Harsha de Silva, Nalaka Godahewa, Jagath Pushpakumara, Nalin Bandara and Madhura Withanage were present at this committee meeting held.

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