No other option but to retructure C.E.B

By Anura Maitipe

The government has no other option but to restructure the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB)and the proposed bill will be placed before the parliament within next few weeks, the Minister of Power and Energy W. J. M. Senaviratne told the Sunday Observer.

The Minister said that the CEB was indebted to the tune of Rs. 9.3 billion to state Banks,Petroleum Corporation and private power supply organisations. The daily loss to the CEB is Rs. 4.5 million and the CEB has become a huge burden on the treasury. Under the proposed bill the CEB will not be privatised but it will be converted into a financially viable and efficient state institution, the minister said. The main objective of this bill is to convert the CEB into three main divisions such as generation, transmission and distribution.

With the restructuring of the CEB each division will be fully responsible for its particular subject and all three divisions should manage it in competitive terms.

This bill is not a lopsided one and it was prepared by a Special Committee appointed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa comprising officials of the CEB, experts in the power sector and Trade union leaders. With the implementation of the draft bill the CEB will be converted into a profit making enterprise by minimising waste of funds, energy and manpower. Unless we move in this direction the CEB will move into a further financial crisis, he said.