There are certain officers in the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) who tend to embarrass the government by endorsing power cuts despite the President’s orders not to, in a move of gaining the political advantage, said Ports and Naval Affairs Minister Rohitha Abeygunawardena, speaking to media in Kalutara yesterday (25).
Accordingly, law must be enforced against such persons, the Minister suggested.
“His Excellency the President Gotabaya Rajapaksa together with the Honourable Finance Minister held a discussion by calling in the Power Minister, the Energy Minister and their officers who hold responsibilities yesterday morning. Holding such a discussion, the President instructed never to carry out a power cut. As the government, approval was granted to release the money required for the purchase of fuel.
Even after giving all these things and the President has given an order, we can see that certain CEB officials are trying to gain political advantage. This should be made clear. A timetable for power cuts is released in the evening, even after the government is held accountable, the fuel is being brought and all the responsibilities are borne by the government. They are trying to mess with people’s heads. Why so? To embarrass the government.
In fact, the reason for this power crisis is not at the complete discretion of the CEB. There is a handful of people, whose intention is a movement of sabotage. Because they do not like the idea of power, in particular, being produced via solar power. Every time power is produced via alternate methods, they tend to do something against. Therefore, the people of the country should be aware of this very clearly. If they continue to push back when the government is putting its efforts not to keep the people in the dark, they, in my opinion, must penalised legitimately. Were they not penalised, I am very confident that the people will penalise them.
Can a member of a trade union say whether power should be cut or not? If that is the case, one of those trade unions must be appointed as the Chairman of the CEB. Then, someone from the trade union must be appointed as the General Manager. The Subject Ministry should also be given to them. Then they will be able to make the decisions, not the government. So, when the people are given the wrong impression that power will be cut, that would be very dangerous. Therefore, law should be enforced against those who make such statements. For gods sake, we this as a crime against this country!” he said.
