CEB engineers should be ashamed of power cuts

Electrity Users’ Association:

‘They scuttled schemes that would have helped avert the present ciris’

By Anuradha Hiripitiyage

The engineers attached to the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) should be ashamed to issue notices announcing power cuts, Electricity Users’ Association (EUA) Secretary Sanjeewa Dhammika said yesterday.

The CEB engineers were paid with public funds to ensure that there was an uninterrupted supply of electricity, Dhammika said. “They must implement long-term generation plans. The engineers seem to be incapable of carrying out their duties and responsibilties,” he said.

The EUA Secretary said that modern life and economic activities were reliant on the availability of electricity.

Dhammika said: “They have also scuttled schemes that could have helped overcome the current situation.

In 2018, there was a proposal to link the generators belonging to the state enterprises to the national grid. The engineers stopped that. There were plans to boost solar power. This too was disrupted. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa wants to have 70% of energy from renewables by 2030. CEB engineers have not formulated plans to achieve that goal even after two years,” he said.

The Minister in charge and the Chairman of the CEB must reveal their stance on renewables, Dhammika added.