Lights for 87 percent of households

by Uditha Kumarasinghe

The Government has provided electricity for 87 percent of the households in the country.

When the UPFA Government assumed office in 2004, nearly 68 percent of the total households were provided electricity. During the past six years, the Government increased it to 87 percent, Power and Energy Minister W.D.J. Seneviratne told the Sunday Observer.

“This clearly indicates that on the directive of President Mahinda Rajapaksa, the Power and Energy Ministry has implemented a sustainable development program to successfully overcome the issues in the country’s power and energy sectors,” the Minister said. According to the theme “Electricity for all”, the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has planned to provide electricity connections to 100 percent of the households by 2012. To achieve this target, the CEB has implemented a series of rural electrification schemes and rural electrification projects.

The Iranian Government has also provided a US$ 105 million credit facility to implement several major rural electrification schemes, he said.

The Government has also implemented “Lighting Sri Lanka Projects” in Kalutara, Ratnapura, Kegalle, Moneragala, Polonnaruwa, Anuradhapura, Trincomalee and the Southern and Eastern Provinces.”

According to the Minister the Government has provided electricity to 98 percent of the households in Colombo, Gampaha - 98 percent, Kalutara - 83 percent, Galle - 97 percent, Matara - 94 percent, Hambantota - 80 percent, Ratnapura - 70 percent, Nuwara Eliya - 86 percent, Badulla - 67 percent, Jaffna - 60 percent, Ampara - 67 percent, Polonnaruwa - 69 percent, Anuradhapura - 71 percent, Batticaloa - 54 percent, Trincomalee - 56 percent, Vavuniya - 62 percent and Mannar - 37 percent.

The provision of electricity to a large number of areas in the Northern and the Eastern provinces was suspended during the past several years due to terrorist activities. After terrorism was eradicated, the Government provided electricity to nearly 60 percent of the households in the Eastern Province, he said.