While stating that a water tariff hike is likely, Minister of Water Supply Jeevan Thondaman stated yesterday (19) that ministry officials are exploring alternatives including renewable energy to avoid such tariff hikes in the future.

Speaking to The Daily Morning, Thondaman yesterday said: “Already the water board executives and stakeholders are in discussion on how we can cut costs within the Ministry of Water Supply, in terms of operations. First, we have to come up with a plan for that. The lower the costs are to run the water plants, the lesser the need for a tariff hike. But as of now, we are looking at a tariff hike as shifting to renewable energy is not going to happen overnight,”

He further said: “Till the renewable energy component comes in, we are going to have to increase water tariffs, as to when it might happen, I cannot give you an exact date because we still have to go through the logistics and numbers. We also have to see the human aspect of it, given the situation of the country. We can’t be a burden on the people either. Once we run the numbers, we will come up with a feasible solution for all.

“To prevent this in future, we are going to cut costs and expenses and look for renewable energy to power the plants. Till we reach a solution to cut costs and expenses in the Water Board, we would have to deal with a water charge hike. The expenses of our water plants are very high due to the electricity tariff increase. Now we are starting to explore options on renewable energy and how we can even acquire foreign-funded programmes once the International Monetary Fund (IMF) comes in on cutting costs in terms of electricity within all these water plants,” he added

Meanwhile, the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) stated last week that the approval of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) had been received to increase electricity tariffs by 66% with effect from 15 February.

Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera noted that with the increase in electricity tariffs by 66%, agreements have been reached between State banks and the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) for loans of over Rs. 70 billion for the procurement of coal and fuel to ensure an uninterrupted power supply in the country.

Addressing the media on 16 February, Wijesekera stated that a loan of Rs. 22 billion had been confirmed with the Bank of Ceylon (BOC) for coal procurement, whilst a loan of Rs. 50 billion had been requested for the procurement of fuel required for private and CEB-owned power plants.