Ceylon Electricity Board Engineers’ Union (CEBEU) might decide not to attend to any breakdowns after office hours and on holidays under any circumstances after a Special General Meeting convened this week, Joint Secretary of the Union said yesterday issuing a press release.

 

All Members of the Ceylon Electricity Board Engineers’ Union (CEBEU) would meet this week to decide on future trade union action, he said.

 

“Our Executive Committee met on May 25 and decided to call a Special General Meeting convening all members to discuss the current developments and to decide on future trade union action. There is a high probability to make a decision at the meeting not to attend to any breakdowns after office hours and on holidays under any circumstances. If that happens, no guarantees can be given to the stability of the power system of the country,” he said.

 

If it leads to a total power failure, the government would have to take full responsibility, he warned.

 

Although the Union has commenced a work to rule campaign on May 08, the engineers continued to restore electricity and carryout maintenance taking into account the disaster situation of the country. “Even though we did not carry out our normal duties after 4.15 PM on working days, they attended to major breakdown to prevent power outages. We did this because there is a high risk of complete power failure, if we did not attend a breakdown of a major transmission line or major power plant,” he said.

 

Although the government has promised to solve the issues raised by the union, two of the main demands have not been fulfilled. These are granting approval to the Least Cost Long Term Generation Expansion Plan (LCLTGEP) 2018-2037 and appointing ‘professionals with highest integrity and unblemished record to the key posts of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL).

http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=185330