CEB Chairman bows out

By Ifham Nizam

Ceylon Electricity Board Chairman, M. M.C. Ferdinando, yesterday tendered his resignation letter to Power and Energy Minister, Kanchana Wijesekera.

The Island reliably learns that the former Power Ministry Secretary, who was brought back from retirement to head the CEB, was forced to quit following his controversial remarks before the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) last week.

Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera yesterday tweeted, “I have accepted the letter of resignation tendered by the CEB Chairman Mr. MMC Ferdinando. Vice Chairman Nalinda Ilangaokoon will take over as the New Chairman.”

Meanwhile, Ferdinando said that he had mistakenly told the Parliamentary watchdog COPE that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa told him that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had insisted that a Wind Power project be awarded to the Adani Group.

The ousted CEB Chairman told journalists that he had been very emotional when allegations were levelled at him at the COPE Session last Friday (10).

Ferdinando said that he was under pressure at the COPE session and he made a false statement.

“I have withdrawn that statement. I only realized that I mistakenly made such a comment, when the Minister inquired from me about the matter the following day.

However, he informed the Parliamentary Watchdog, on Friday (10), that he was told by the President that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was insisting that the energy investments projects be awarded to the Adani Group.

Appearing at the Committee on Public Enterprises hearing in Parliament on Friday (10), he said that following a meeting chaired by the President, he had been summoned by the Head of State and told that the Indian Prime Minister was insisting that the 500 MW wind power project be given to India’s Adani Group.

“I told him (President) it was not a matter related to me or the CEB and it should be referred to the Board of Investment,” he told COPE.

The Chairman said that he had thereafter informed the Treasury Secretary in writing, and requested him to look into the matter while noting that there was a government to government requirement on the matter.

However, he admitted that the agreement can be termed as unsolicited as it is a G2G agreement.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa categorically denied the statement made by the CEB Chairman with regard to awarding a Wind Power Project.

“Statement made by the CEB Chairman at a COPE committee hearing regarding the award of a Wind Power Project in Mannar, I categorically deny authorisation to award this project to any specific person or entity. I trust responsible communication in this regard will follow,” the President tweeted.

In Parliament, Opposition charged that an unsolicited government-to-government agreement to build a 500 MW wind power plant in the northern coast with the involvement of the Adani Group was the main reason to bring forward amendments to the 1989 Electricity Act.

The main Opposition SJB wanted projects beyond 10 MW capacity to go through a competitive bidding process, but the majority of the government MPs voted for the amendment.

This Bill, introduced in Parliament on May 17th, 2022 by the Minister of Power and Energy, qualifies a person to apply for a generation license to generate electricity.

Accordingly, this amendment will remove the restrictions on the issuance of a power generation license for a person who generates electricity over and above the generation capacity of 25 M.W and will allow anyone to apply for it without any restriction on the generation capacity.

The Sri Lanka Electricity Amendment Bill No. 20 of 2009 was passed in Parliament without amendments by a majority of votes on Thursday (09).