CPC workers launch Sathyagraha

By Ifham Nizam

The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) would be privatised at the best of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) wants, trade unionists said yesterday.

They said the government and Minister Kanchana Wijesekera were planning to hand over about 600 filling stations to some multinational companies.

CPC Union Collective yesterday commenced a Satyagraha opposite the Kolonnawa Terminal against the government’s divestiture programme.

Chairman of Petroleum branch of the Sri Lanka Nidahas Sevaka Sangamaya Jagath Wijegunaratne said that the Satyagraha was being carried out against the attempts to privatise the CPC.

He said the CPC was currently making huge profits.

Wijegunaratne said the CPC’s profit last month alone was Rs. 9 bn, and the profit of the month of January was Rs. 13 bn.

The Ceylon Electricity Board Engineers Union (CEBEU) is also protesting against the government move to privatise the CEB.