Athula Wanniarachchi,-President, Ceylon Electricity Board Engineers’ Union

As per Electricity Act 2009, the private sector is not allowed to invest in electricity transmission. As the ‘Transmission licensee’, only Ceylon Electricity Board is allowed to do it. It seems that the Finance Ministry has not discussed this matter with Ministry of Power and Renewable Energy before stating it at the Budget speech. They have just arbitrarily included this item without fully knowing the subject matter. The budget has mentioned nothing of government plans to provide electricity at a lower rate which is a very important attribute to attract foreign industries. Other regional countries like India and Bangladesh have good plans to reduce cost of electricity to enhance the industries and the growth of economy and job opportunities for the youth. The Union will not agree with the statement. The government is looking to diversify its energy sources to include LNG, and Green energy sources as well. It is important to ensure that adequate investments are made for transmission and distribution as well. Therefore, we encourage the private sector to participate in providing transmission facilities within each province. READ MORE …