CEB Engineers demand removal of PUCSL chief

COLOMBO (News 1st) - The Ceylon Electricity Board Engineers Union (CEBEU) has decided to embark on a trade union action, demanding the removal of the Director General of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL).The demand is quite rich, considering the fact that the PUCSL is the regulator of the CEB. Issuing a media statement, the CEBEU says that since the Director General of the PUCSL is not cooperating with them, they are embarking on trade union action asking that new members be appointed to the Commission. The members of the PUCSL are appointed with the consultation of and on the recommendation of the Constitutional Council. When the CEB submitted a high cost, environmentally unfriendly and unsustainable "Least Cost Generation Expansion Plan," it was the PUCSL that ensured following consultations that amendments must be made in order to provide a Least Cost Generation Expansion Plan that is more favorable to the country. Doesn't the CEBEU's demand for restructuring and changing the administration of the regulator of the sector amount to an instance of the tail wagging the dog? We wish to put forward a challenge to the CEBEU. Can you guarantee that none of your members are either directly or indirectly involved in financial or business deals with the CEB? If needed we can remind you of several spheres where such involvement may be found. 1. Mini Hydro Power Plants 2. The contract to supply electricity meters for the CEB 3. The supplying of all types of transformers Lanka Transformers Limited has been at the center of many controversial agreements in the power and energy sector in the recent past. U.D. Jayawardena, M.J.M.N. Marikkar, and Ravindrakumar Pitigalage, who serve as directors of Lanka Transformers Limited are not quite so coincidentally, directly involved with the CEB. Once again we challenge the CEBEU to confirm that none of their members are involved in business dealings with the CEB. News 1st is prepared to expose the corruption and irregularities that are rampant at the CEB, its unions and other spheres of the power and energy sector.