• Blame Kanchana for not doing so by ‘favouring’ multinationals

Compared to the current fuel prices in the world market, it is possible to reduce the prices of all types of fuel in Sri Lanka by 15%, but the Government does not do so due to the need to hand over the petroleum-related operations including filling stations to foreign companies, the trade unions (TUs) of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) claimed.

Speaking to the media yesterday (28), the President of the Sri Lanka Podujana Progressive Employees Union – Petroleum, Bandula Saman Kumara said: “According to current fuel prices in the world market, fuel prices can be reduced by 15%, but the Ministry of Power and Energy does not give that relief to the people. When the electricity and water tariffs have been raised and the cost of living has skyrocketed, we ask subject Minister Kanchana Wijesekera to immediately give the advantage of the global fuel price reduction to the people.”

Speaking further, he claimed that the Government is not reducing fuel prices despite the ability to do so due to its need to hand over the petroleum related operations to multinational companies. “The Minister is trying to publicise the view that fuel prices cannot be reduced as long as the CPC based petroleum duopoly is there, and that it can only be done when multinational companies are given the opportunity to carry out the operations. We ask Wijesekera and the Government to not deceive the people.”

Despite attempts, Wijesekera was unavailable for comment.

Given the prevailing economic crisis caused by the shortage of foreign exchange reserves in the country, the import of fuel was disrupted in the recent past. As the country saw miles long queues of people to pump their vehicles with fuel, the Ministry introduced the quick response code system for the people to purchase fuel, which subsided the crisis situation which had arisen with regard to the fuel supply, to a certain extent. The prices of all types of fuel were also raised at large rates, while a few price reductions were done at small rates.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet of Ministers on Monday (28) approved the proposal presented by Wijesekera to enter into a contract with the Sinopec Fuel Oil Lanka Limited, the United Petroleum Company of Australia and the R.M. Parks Inc. Company of the United States of America for the importation, storage, distribution and sale of petroleum in Sri Lanka on long-term contracts, in collaboration with Shell PLC.