‘PUCSL will not be dissolved, but will get new Board soon’

By Ifham Nizam

Utilities regulator, the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) would not be dissolved but the government would appoint a new board of directors as its incumbent directorate had resigned, a senior power sector official said.

When contacted, the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) Chairman, Eng. Vijitha Herath told The Island that the PUCSL new board would be appointed shortly.

Power and Energy Ministry strongly says the role of the PUCSL is of paramount importance as almost all CEB engineers have stressed the importance of its functions.

“It cannot be dissolved without parliamentary approval,” another official said.

Last week, Secretary to the President, Dr. P. B. Jayasundera instructed Treasury Secretary S.R. Attygalle to take steps to close down the PUCSL, absorb the technical staff into the National Planning Department and the Power Ministry.

Dr. Jayasundera in his letter stated that the PUCSL Act would be replaced in due course, and that certain relevant provisions in the Act could be incorporated into the Consumer Affairs Authority Act and the Ceylon Electricity Board Act.

Industry experts and Opposition parliamentarians criticised the move to scrap the PUCSL, stressing it would have a deleterious impact on the country’s power sector and open the door to corruption, reduce oversight of the CEB, curtail investment from multilateral lenders such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and undermine public interest.

The PUCSL is the economic, technical and safety regulator of the electricity industry in Sri Lanka and the designated regulator for petroleum and water services industries.

The PUCSL has also been assigned as the shadow regulator for the lubricant market in Sri Lanka. It was established by The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka Act No. 35 of 2002.