PUCSL chairman to be sacked! | Daily News

PUCSL chairman to be sacked!

Chairman harbouring political ambitions
PUCSL responsible for ongoing power cuts
Parliament to follow laid out procedure

The charge sheet to remove Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) Chairman Janaka Rathnayake from that post has already been made, and the Government would take legal action against him, Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said.

Speaking to the media yesterday, the Minister said all Government MPs are in agreement to remove him from the post, adding that the procedure laid out in Parliament would be followed in that regard.

“Prior to his appointment as the PUCSL Chairman, he had requested from then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to appoint him as Commercial Bank Chairman, but the Central Bank of Sri Lanka had declined to offer him the eligibility certificate due to various allegations against him. In addition, a Parliament Select Committee in 2012 had stated that he was unsuitable to hold any state office. This fact had been missed when his appointment was approved,” the Minister stated.

“The Chairman had told the media that we are imposing power cuts disregarding the fact that a continuous power supply is possible.We completely reject that claim. We had shown how power cuts could be avoided.If the PUCSL approves the proposed revisions to the electricity tariff, we can ensure a continuous power supply.The Chairman had rejected it based on his personal opinions.

The letter provided by other Commission members on January 24 confirms this fact. The other Commission members had not been aware of the letter sent by the Chairman to Cabinet. This is illegal and it violates the PUCSL Act. He is trying to push the whole country to the wall, and he is responsible even for the ongoing power cuts,” the Minister said.

In order to provide continuous electricity supply, there should be a revision of the tariff, the minister further said.

“From January 1, 2023, we can arrange to provide continuous electricity supply, but we have to incur some expenses to provide it, so we suggested that there should be some revision in the tariff. Accordingly, we have been informing the Public Utilities Commission of this matter since November. Especially after the Cabinet decision in January, we have informed in writing about the environment required to provide continuous electricity supply to the Public Utilities Commission”.

The minister pointed out that the CEB could have avoided power cuts in the GCE Advanced Level period if the PUCSL had agreed to the conditions.

The Minister also said that chairman of the PUCSL, has been acting on his personal opinion and not on the opinion of the Commission.The minister said views of other members of the commission has been disregarded by the chairman. He also charged that Ratnayake was harbouring political ambitions and his name may surface in the national list of an opposition political party during a general election.

He said Ratnayake’s intention seems to be not only causing power cuts in the future but also fuel queues like in the past as without a tariff hike the CEB’s debt to CPC for fuel will continue to grow.

 


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