Electricity for all by year end:

Prime Minister’s promise

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa said at the Kerawalapitiya LNG Project inaugural ceremony, that at present 99% householders had electricity and by the end of the year every household would have electricity. The question is how electricity has been supplied to 99% households.

This brings to my mind the effort of the then Minister for Power and Energy, D. B.Wijethunga, who as far back as the 1980s, had a vision to provide electricity to rural areas. As the provision made available in the annual budget of the CEB was only to extend lines to those suburban areas which were considered profitable, and provision made available in the estimates of the Ministry was meagre, he directed the Secretary to seek foreign funding for rural electrification. It was then that the Asian Development Bank was approached and they agreed, on condition that only those rural areas which were profitable be selected.

On this requirement, the CEB did an exhaustive survey and the ADB, being satisfied, granted the loan. When work started, Members of Parliament rushed to have their villages supplied with electricity. When being told that only those viable are to be supplied, they agreed to fund such villages with their Decentralized Budget allocations. I handled this project at the Ministry level. Credit should be given to the engineer who was entrusted to carry out the project – Maxi Tissera – for his personal dedication. Since then, all successive governments continued to take great interest, as it turned out to be a political issue to entice the village voter. As for the negligible 1% yet to be supplied with electricity, it is due to being in remote places. It is hoped the houses in these remote villages will be provided with Solar panels.

Next, to the LNG plant at Kerawalapitiya which was ceremonially inaugurated, it has a very unpleasant repulsive history. This project should have been constructed about four years back, if not for the scandalous interference of the then Minister for Power Ranjith Siyambalapitiya and the Secretary to the Ministry, Dr. Suren Batagoda, by not approving the tender board decision to award the tender to the lowest local tenderer -Lakdhavani; instead to be awarded to a Chinese construction company, which had quoted higher. This was contested by the local firm. As there was no response to several appeals, the local firm filed action in courts to get redress.

Fortunately, with the defeat of the Yahapalana government, the present Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa intervened, and made the local firm withdraw legal action and awarded the tender to the legitimate lowest bidder – Lakdhavani. If this project was constructed earlier, the country would have saved billions. However, the culprits who delayed this project, for reasons, better not discuss, are free. It is left for Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa to probe and suitable action be taken, considering it a national crime.

As far as I am aware, subject to correction, a LNG terminal has not been built and when the construction of the LNG plant is completed, it will stand idle till terminal facilities are provided; hence it is suggested that immediate action be taken to have one provided in time, if not already done.

G.A.D.SIRIMAL

[Rtd. Asst, Secretary, SLAS

Ministry for Power and Energy]