Govt. serious about reforming CEB based on recommendations made by expert panel

By Ifham Nizam 

The government would implement a set of proposals by an eight-member committee that looked into reform needs of the Ceylon Electricity Board, a senior government official said.

 The proposals for restructuring the debt ridden Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) are to be submitted to Parliament next month after they were studied by the eight-member committee, Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara said yesterday.

 Minister Wijesekara said that the report by the committee which was appointed in August had been received and was being studied.

The report was taken up for discussion with former Power and Energy Ministers and political party representatives in September.

Althoughhough some trade unions have already started opposing the restructuring programme of the CEB, the Powerful Ceylon Electricity Board Engineers Union (CEBEU) is to spell out its stance.

The eight member committee which studied the restructuring process are Dr. R.H.S. Samaratunge – Former Secretary, Finance Ministry, MMC Ferdinando – Former Secretary, Ministry of Power & Energy, Dr. Susantha Perera, Former AGM, Ceylon Electricity Board, Thilan Wijesinghe – Former Chairman, Board Of Investment, Saliya Wickramasuriya – Chairman, Petroleum Development Authority and Director General, Port City Economic Commission, President’s Counsel Nihal Jayawardhane – Former Legal Consultant to the Public Enterprise Reforms Commission, Attorney at Law Harsha Fernando – Former Senior State Counsel at the AGs department and Chandana Wijesinghe – Director, Ministry of Power and Energy.