Subsidiary companies to run Electricity Board
 

by Hiran H. Senewiratne

The Government will set up government owned subsidiary companies to run the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) for power generation, transmission and distribution of power for the implementation of power sector reforms.

This will help to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the CEB in the long run without privatising the entity, Director General, Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka Prof. Priyantha Wijayatunga told the Daily News.

He said that the latest concept paper says ownership of the subsidiaries will remain with the CEB, which is in turn owned by the Government and there want be any fear of retrenchment of employees with this new reform formula.

"This new structure has the agreement of most of the trade unions and the Engineer's Union in particular," he said.

Under these new reforms, the CEB could identify problem areas. This would help quick decision making to put the CEB in the correct shape, he said. The political interference could be minimised with the implementation of these reforms. This will ensure accountability,transparency and independent regulation of the sector and eventually lead to increased investor confidence and improved investment and operational efficiency, the Director General said.

The power sector reforms will be regulated by the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka, which was established under the PUCSL Act of 2002.

The CEB will retain only non-core functions such as maintaining the pension fund. The Government has already initiated re-writing of the Power Sector Reforms Act and the Ceylon Electricity Board Act.

Further the sub committees for legal and regulatory matters, technical matters and Implementation Task Force have been already established by the Minister of Power and Energy.

The Government is determined go ahead with these reforms, which would help the electricity industry to come out of the present crisis, and also which will ensure that such a crisis will nor recur in the future, Prof. Wijayatunga said.