Opinion
Stop blowing the coals
Before commenting on your excellent no-holds-barred editorial giving exactly the opinion of the suffering masses, which says, ‘The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) trade unions and the Minister for Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera have true to form, locked horns over the availability of coal in the country, instead of getting themselves around the table and making a concerted effort to contain the power crisis. They are talking like a bunch of schoolboys with short fuses’.
I handled this subject of introducing Coal Power Generation from its inception, on a proposal brought forward by late consultant Carlo Fernando, and picked up by then Secretary to the Ministry for Power late James J Lanerolle; hence my interest on this subject while in retirement. Following reports in newspapers, I boldly question both the Minister Kanchana Wijesekera and the Trade Union leaders, whether the delay in coal shipments is the only reason for the power cut. Are we not experiencing a two hour and twenty minute power cut daily, even with all power generation plants working at full speed – (Hydro, Coal, Wind, Solar and from local suppliers). Both the Minister and the Trade Union seem to hide the fact of lack of power generation capacity. In this regard it is best to quote a letter appearing in The Island of Monday, 7th Feb.2022, where Dr. Tilak Siyambalapitiya, Energy Expert and Consultant has warned the authorities-
“On Monday 31st January, Sri Lanka reported a peak demand of 2710 Mw at 7 pm, without load shedding. So, we are inching towards the 2900 Mw peak, as temperatures rise toward 34C [at present 32C] and industries and hotels ramp up with more orders and guests, respectively, as we approach April. Thus, even if all the money in the world is available to buy fuel, with no outages of any power plant, the capacity on the grid is simply not adequate to meet the customer demand. The 200 Mw minimum shortage and the absence of 800 Mw of new power plants can be hidden by ‘ministerial order’ or ‘regulatory commission order’ but not for long. The end is very near”.
Now I come to another blunder or interference of the then Minister for Power and Energy, in awarding a tender for the construction of 350 Mw LNG Plant at Kerawalapitiya. Had the award for the construction of the 350 Mw LNG plant at Kerawalapitiya been given to the successful tenderer, the then Minister for Power and Energy intervened, as he wished the tender be awarded to a Chinese construction company. The successful tenderer having failed in his efforts for redress, filed action in courts seeking redress. This caused a delay of nearly four years. If the award was granted at the correct time, the present situation would have eased to a great extent or averted a power cut.
This reminds me of a similar incident during the time of President J.R. Jayewardene, when the then Minister for Power and Energy altered a Cabinet paper to award a tender to another and not the one recommended by the Tender Board. If my memory does not fail me, it was the tender for Gas Turbine. The then Secretary to the Ministry, late James H Lanerolle, brought the matter to the notice of President J. R. Jayewardena, who removed the minister and took over the Ministry under him. Can such action be expected now? Instead, such politicians are well looked after and rewarded. It is therefore no wonder this country is bankrupt in all sectors, – Political, Economic, Religious and Cultural.
It should be emphatically mentioned that mismanagement of this vital sector for socio-economic development, discourages foreign investors mainly due to high tariff and also uncertainty of an uninterrupted, steady supply. Apart from the so-called ‘Coal Crisis’, the disagreement the Minister has with the CEB Trade Unions is not healthy for smooth working, which is a national disaster. It should be borne in mind that CEB engineers are knowledgeable, and know what is best for the institution, as well as the consumer of electricity and the country as a whole. I wonder who advises the Minister in this regard.
The end result is that we the poor citizens have to grin and bear, after being duped by politicians with rosy promises at the time of elections. Is the ‘system change’ of the Aragalaya Boys the answer?
G.A.D.SIRIMAL
SLAS – Rtd. Asst. Secretary
Ministry for Power and Energy