Corruption at Ceylon Electricity Board exposed: "over 50% of (your) electricity bill is due to wastage and corruption"

COLOMBO (News 1st): Cases of corruption at the Ceylon Electricity Board were revealed at a press briefing today (March 14) convened by the Ceylon Electricity Workers' Union. General Secretary of the Union Ranjan Jayalal stated that over 50% of an electricity bill is due to wastage and corruption. He pointed out that there are nearly 5 million electricity consumers in Sri Lanka who pay their bills to the Ceylon Electricity Board. Turning his attention towards the CEB employees' EPF, he stated that every employee incurs a loss of over Rs. 100,000 annually as a result of bonds worth Rs. 2400 million issued by the Central Bank to Entrust Securities. "Several years have passed, and we are clueless as to what happened to these funds," he added. Jayalal stated that the pension of all employees has suffered a similar fate and that the pension scheme suffers a loss of Rs. 14 million every six months. "Why are the ministers and MPs remaining silent? We request them to intervene in this matter immediately," said Ranjan Jayalal. Speaking on the matter of providing jobs at the CEB, Jayalal revealed a document from the time of Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya. "This is a document during Minister Siyambalapitiya's time. We challenge them to file a case against us. File a case, and we will be present along with employees at courts. These are promissory notes and they are not forged documents. Innocent people from the Ampara and Siyambalanduwa area have been promised employment at the CEB." he added. He also stated that these people have "even paid money". According to Ranjan Jayalal, Minister Ravi Karunanayaka had accepted that these documents are in his possession when it was brought to his attention. "These are the receipts issued by the bank in return for the deposits made by these people," said Jayalal. He stated that a minimum of Rs. 300,000 and a maximum of Rs. 500,000 have been charged from people for a job at the Ceylon Electricity Board. "If the minister does not take action against this matter, we will call about 100 individuals who have paid money to secure a job at the CEB for the next press briefing. During the time of the national government, parliamentarians Siyambalapitiya and Ajith P. Perera were in charge of the respective subject ministry," he added. Jayalal went on to say: "The same government which said that even the judiciary is not legal, they provided over 1000 jobs at the CEB on December 3rd in a rush. The rates were between Rs. 300,000 and Rs. 500,000. Ultimately it is the people who have to bear the burden."