No decision to privatise CEB

by Uditha Kumarasinghe

Power and Energy Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka said that the Government has not taken any decision to privatise the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB). The Government’s policy is that the CEB should continue as a Government entity.

There may be some inefficiency in the CEB. Therefore, some management and structural changes should be made within the CEB without any delay. As President Mahinda Rajapaksa has clearly stipulated in his Budget Speech 2013, the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) and the CEB need autonomous administration and some structural changes, the Minister told the Sunday Observer. The Minister said there were plans in 2002 to privatise the CEB and it was divided into six companies.

That management structure still prevails and the CEB has not been privatised. It is neither a privatised nor a Government entity as it has been divided into six companies.

“A strong decision has to be taken in this regard. If we are not privatising the CEB, we should abolish the 2009 Electricity Act and allow the CEB to take its own decisions. The CEB should be accountable to Parliament and the people of the country.

“On the other hand, if anyone proposes that the CEB should be privatised, the electricity rates will go up immediately by 50 percent. This is because the private sector would not do any business without profit. No private company could provide electricity less than the current electricity tariff,” he said.

The Minister said that at present the CEB takes loans from the Bank of Ceylon and People’s Bank to cover its losses. Therefore, some formula should be introduced for the CEB without delay.” We should not resort to erratic price increases or price revisions. It should be a transparent formula like the gas and bus fare formulae. It should also be a challenge to the CEB management. The CEB should also contribute and fulfil its responsibilities properly, he said.