CEB engineers holding people to ransom

By Professor I. M. Dharmadasa,
email: dharme@shu.ac.uk

CEB engineers’ mafia has again threatened a countrywide total blackout on the pretext of opposing certain amendments to the Ceylon Electricity Act No. 20 of 2009. They have been continuously resisting the incorporation of indigenous renewable energy to the national grid in favour of thermal power plants, burning imported diesel or coal, in their future power generation policies. We have earlier highlighted (The Island, 22 March, 2022) how the CEB engineers oppose the incorporation of solar energy into our power generation plans. Then, the renewable energy Minister reported in the Parliament that the CEB had not connected 40 MW of rooftop solar panels to the national grid for two years. This is indeed a criminal act,wasting the energy produced during that period and resisting the use of solar energy in the country.

In a widely publicised web interview, former President Chandrika Kumaratunga revealed how some senior corrupt engineers at the CEB had derailed solar projects in spite of the instructions given by the then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. These top officials are willing to pay around Rs. 40 or more per unit to privately owned diesel power plants, while paying a paltry Rs. 18 per unit, for power from rooftop solar panels. There are allegations that some of these private power plants pay commissions to senior officials of the CEB and they benefit enormously during emergency energy purchases. This is the reason why they suppress the renewable energy sector, and solar projects capable of producing around 400 MW of power are still waiting for approval.

Electricity is so essential to our day to day activities and far more crucial than diesel, petrol, gas or any other consumables. The CEB engineers know this and use their bargaining power to win their unreasonable demands. The Minister of Power and Energy has mentioned an agreement where the engineers are granted a 25% salary increase every three years. Obviously, they have forced the CEB Board to agree to this, but surprisingly the Finance Ministry or the COPE has never questioned such illegal activities. No government has had the courage to challenge this unreasonable salary increases.

The CEB has said there is a need to increase electricity tariffs by 300%. The monthly salary bill of the CEB is around Rs. 3,000 million, out of which nearly 600 million are required to pay the salaries of engineers. The salaries of engineers at the CEB including allowances range from Rs. 500,000 to Rs. 900,000 per month according to a widely circulated report. Travel allowance alone is Rs. 150,000 a month including an additional Rs. 75,000 for petrol. This is nothing but greediness and is this how the engineers, trained by our free education system, serve the public? Successive ministers of power and energy have never dealt with this matter. Huge salaries paid to CEB employees are partly responsible for the colossal losses incurred by the CEB. Another reason for these losses is the excessive number of employees, mainly political appointees at the CEB and the inefficiency of running the organisation.

The National Audit Office (NAO) in its 2021 report has revealed that CEB made various payments to its staff in violation of the Cabinet decisions from 2014 to the tune of Rs. 1,712 million in 2014. Furthermore, despite an Auditor General’s report that the CEB employees do not pay income tax based on their salaries (PAYE), CEB continues to pay the income tax of its engineers and top officials. Such payments are illegal as per court decision given under case No. CA/WRIT/193/2015 and hence payment of salaries based on the CEB’s circular number 2014/GM/16/Pers, dated 27 November 2014 is illegal, null and void. Theoretically, the salary paid to any government official should be after withholding PAYE tax and again this engineering mafia has pressured the CEB management to pay their income tax, which amounted to around Rs. 3,465 million between 2010 and 2020.

When a junior government doctor is paid a basic salary of only Rs. 60,000, even a meter reader at the CEB draws around Rs. 150,000. If the government has no spine to face the unreasonable demands of the engineering union, it is preferable to privatise the management of the CEB reducing the excess staff, mainly appointed solely on the basis of political connections.

During the strike by the engineers’ union on 9 June 2022, they did the most despicable act of opening the sluice gates of the Randenigala reservoir without generating electricity. They seem to want the reservoirs to run dry so that their business of purchasing emergency power will thrive. They must be unhappy these days because we have our reservoirs full and hydro power accounts for at least 70% of the total power required. There should be a proper inquiry about who ordered the opening of Randenigala sluice gates and whether any union officials forced the resident engineer to let the water go waste.

Recommended actions:

(a) Privatise the establishment and reduce excess staff to make the operation more efficient and productive.

(b) The engineers and the electricity board members should declare conflicts of interest like owning private power companies.

(c) Those who are earning beyond Rs. 100,000 per month or Rs. 150,000 per month including perks should declare the income.

(d) Income tax should be paid by the individuals and not by the company or corporation.

(e) The salaries of electrical engineers should be on par with other engineers of similar qualifications and experience serving other government institutions.

(f) Salary increases per annum for the state sector should be based on criteria set by a review board and not based on threats.

(g) Government should declare that all services where the public is dependent on the services for basic living, as compulsory services (e. g. Police, Armed services, Health, Electricity etc.).