Engineers’ fight at CEB heading for showdown

By Ifham Nizam

The Ceylon Electricity Board Engineers’ Union (CEBEU) was trying its utmost to block ongoing investigations into the countrywide blackout on 03 December and undermine the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) General Manager M.R. Ranatunga, a senior official of the Ceylon Electricity Board Senior Engineers’ Association (CEBSEA) alleged yesterday.

CEBSEA spokesperson Engineer Nandika Pathirage told The Island yesterday that CEBEU was strongly opposed to the General Manager getting an extension in service although according to the new government policy as stated in the budget 2022 he could serve the Board until he reached 62 years.

“This is a fundamental right issue concerning the most senior engineer of the CEB. The CEBEU non-cooperation strategy is to get rid of the General Manager,” he claimed.

He also said that as senior engineers, they were well aware that a thorough investigation would undoubtedly reveal the ‘culprits’ including the team behind the recent sabotage and that the breakdown in the main transmission line and the power outages were pre-planned.

Pathirage, himself a former CEBEU President, also stressed that attempts had been made to delete the relevant data as soon as the power was disrupted.

CEBSEA had asked the government and the Public Utilities Commission to conduct a prompt and fair investigation into recent Power outages. “The General Manager foiled the move to delete the real cause of the power outage, and there is another conspiracy to remove him and obstruct the investigation,” he said.

Meanwhile, denying charges levelled by its rivals, the CEBEU said that it would go all out to win its demands especially the cancellation of the backdoor deals with the US firm.