Kumarawadu

By Rathindra Kuruwita

The Ceylon Electricity Board Engineers Union (CEBEU) is determined to shut down the Lakvijaya Coal Power station at Norochcholai next Tuesday unless the environmental protection license (EPL) is issued. The Norochcholai shutdown would lead to two-hour rotational power cuts, the CEBEU said.

 

Addressing the media yesterday in Colombo, CEBEU President, Saumya Kumarawadu said that rotational power cuts of at least two hours were likely if Norochcholai was shut down.

 

“That will be a big problem for the people and the economy. It’s up to the government to solve this issue.”

 

Kumarawadu added that while there were environmental issues caused by the power plant, steps had already been taken to address them.

“The problem was that we had to spend a lot of time initially trying to fix technical issues. I think you remember that there were frequent breakdowns initially but now that has been sorted out. If this power plant had been built by the Japanese there wouldn’t have been any problems. But since the technical issues have been sorted out, we can now take steps to address the environmental ones.”

CEBEU’s Athula Wanniarachchi admitted that coal dust and fly ash were problems the people were faced with in the area. However, those issues could be sorted out, he said.

“I think we can pay people and remove them from areas that are severely affected. Compensation isn’t enough if someone gets sick but we have to do what we can.”