CEB restructure must be apolitical says CEBEU

By Ifham Nizam

The restructuring of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) should be done without any political interference as international funders like the IMF and particularly the Asian Development Bank (ADB) would not entertain ad hoc committee decisions in this regard, a senior member of the Ceylon Electricity Board Engineers Union (CEBEU) claimed last week.Responding to a question, he said that the top priority should be the consumers and then the employees of the CEB. “If everything is properly done, we (CEBEU) would certainly support the moves. However, we doubt that the restructure can be done within a month,” he added.

The engineer stressed that political non-interference is of paramount importance to persuade lenders to fund such reforms.The CEBEU believes that the young minister in charge would be neutral and that the restructuring should be done under a separate independent office as done previously Power and Energy Ministry Kanchana Wijesekera earlier said that the Cabinet had approved the restructuring of the debt ridden CEB stressing tht renewable energy was the way forward.It is also understood that the Cabinet endorsed revision of renewable power purchase prices. However, energy experts said that the methodology used must be properly devised.

Minister Wijesekara has said that a committee will be appointed to provide recommendations on a restructure plan within a month of appointment.

“The CEB needs restructuring. I hope to get the approval of the Cabinet to commence the unbundling of the CEB with generation, transmission and supply separated,” Wijesekara said in a tweet.

During the stakeholder consultation it was revealed that the CEB’s accumulated revenue shortfall is at Rs. 477 billion, whilst the gross liabilities are at a staggering Rs. 612.4 billion as of May 2022.