February 10, Colombo (LNW): Energy Minister Eng. Kumara Jayakody has made a statement blaming the lack of foresight and planning by past administrations for the ongoing instability in Sri Lanka’s national power grid, which led to the nationwide power outage experienced earlier today.
According to the Minister, no strategic plans were put in place by previous governments to ensure the stability and reliability of the country’s electricity supply system.
In his remarks, Minister Jayakody revealed that an emergency situation at the Panadura grid substation this morning had caused a significant imbalance, which subsequently resulted in the widespread power cut.
Early investigations into the incident have suggested that the power outage was, in part, the consequence of long-standing issues with the management and oversight of the national grid.
“The failure of past governments to prioritise the national power grid’s stability, combined with poor decision-making and a lack of technological understanding, has led us to this point,” Jayakody commented.
He added that the short-sighted approach of previous leaders, who did not address key infrastructure and technological concerns, contributed heavily to the current crisis.
Minister Jayakody assured the public that the current government was taking immediate steps to rectify the situation. A comprehensive investigation will be launched to fully understand the causes behind the power disruption, and corrective measures will be implemented to prevent similar occurrences in the future.
He also expressed his sincere apologies to the citizens who were affected by the outage and thanked the dedicated teams who worked tirelessly to restore power to the nation.
The Minister reiterated the government’s commitment to ensuring that the country’s energy infrastructure is modernised, sustainable, and capable of meeting future demands, stating that the current incident would serve as a wake-up call for much-needed reforms in the sector.
