• PUCSL Chair claims PUCSL being replaced by Electricity Comm. under Energy Minister 

Although the draft to amend the Sri Lanka Electricity Act, No. 20 of 2009 is to be submitted to the Parliament by the third week of this month (May), not even a concept paper related to the said draft has been given to the relevant parties including the trade unions (TUs) within the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), claimed the CEB Joint TU Alliance (CEBJTUA).

Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (2), the Convener of the CEBJTUA, Ranjan Jayalal said that the Minister of Power and Energy, Kanchana Wijesekera had, during recent discussions, informed the trade union representatives that the relevant draft to amend the Electricity Act would be tabled in the Parliament by the third week of this month. "The relevant Cabinet of Ministers approval was granted in April, but the Bill has not been given to any of the concerned parties. At least a concept paper has not been presented. The concerned parties should be given time to go through this Bill before it is tabled in the Parliament. That is what the practice is. We doubt if this programme is an attempt to get this Bill passed in the Parliament without any proper consultation with the relevant parties," he claimed.

Speaking further, Jayalal said that all they had come to know during the recent discussions with the Minister and the other relevant authorities was that there are preparations for the power generation sector to be divided into nine companies, and for some other companies to be established for related purposes including the handling of the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) and the Employees' Trust Fund (ETF) of the CEB employees. "We have been informed of these matters only verbally. That is why we say that the behaviour of the Minister and the other authorities with regard to this Bill is suspicious," he further claimed.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL), Janaka Ratnayake revealed yesterday that with the proposed amendments to the Electricity Act, the CEB will be broken into 14 privately owned enterprises including the Lakvijaya coal power plant in Norochcholai and the hydro power generation stations including Mahaweli and Laxapana. He also revealed that a new company will be established to manage the CEB’s EPF, ETF and pension funds, while the PUCSL will be replaced by an entity named the Electricity Commission which would be governed by the Minister of Energy.