News
FSP: CEB twisting stats to help advance govt. agenda
Even if the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) had not increased the tariff in October 2023, it would have made a profit of 40 billion rupees, Education Secretary of the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP), Pubudu Jayagoda said.
He added that the CEB can give a tariff reduction of 33 percent this year, given that it made a profit of 50 billion rupees in 2023 and because the estimates it has come up for 2024 are faulty.
“In response, the Minister of Power and Energy said that the CEB is making a profit and that he plans to distribute a part of the profit to the people. However, according to the laws that govern the CEB, this is an institution that should not determine prices in order to make a profit. The laws say that tariffs should be determined to cover costs in a just manner.”
Jayagoda said the CEB has determined that energy cost of generating electricity will be 351 billion rupees in 2024. This number was significantly lower in 2023, i.e., by 85 billion rupees. In 2023, the maintenance costs of power plants was 19.9 billion rupees. This has increased to 81 billion rupees for 2024. If we look at the distribution cost, it was 62 billion in 2023. In 2024, it will be 133 billion rupees.
“In 2023, the CEB had spent 21 billion rupees on salaries. This year, the salary bill is 43 billion rupees. All the data I have quoted is from a report the CEB sent to the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL). How can the salaries double? There is no decision on a salary hike or bonuses by the government,” he said.
Jayagoda said that these numbers are used by the CEB to calculate the cost of production. Even if the salaries of all CEB workers are doubled, the estimated cost of salaries would be 42 billion rupees.
“Obviously, this kind of mammoth pay hike doesn’t take place anywhere. Why have they exaggerated numbers like this? It is obvious that the government wants to exaggerate the cost of production, increase tariffs and make a huge profit.”
Jayagoda said that last year, close to a million households have had their electricity disconnected. He said that there is a long-standing debate on whether electricity should be made a profit-making business or whether it is for public good.
“We can’t think of electricity supply from a business perspective alone. Now, electricity is a mainstay of daily life, and states provide electricity at a concessionary rate because it boosts productivity and quality of life. Imagine what a devastating impact the disconnection of electricity must have had on families,” the FSP Education Secretary asked.
In the last two years, 19,000 SMEs, too, have seen the power supply discontinued. The Minister of Power and Energy states that he has made the CEB profitable, but when one looks at the economy as a whole, the overall economy has suffered.
“The high electricity costs make our products less competitive, both domestically and internationally. I think we all agree that we need to boost our exports. How can we do that when electricity tariffs are this high?”
Jayagoda said that in the report to PUCSL, the CEB calculated finance cost for 2024 has gone up by 18 percent compared to 2023. This is not possible because the interest rates have gone down consistently in 2023 and 2024. RK
By AJA Abeynayake
The Attorney General informed the Supreme Court on Thursday (27) that Rs. 245 million from the funds obtained from the respondents, as per the verdict delivered on 12 January 2023 by a seven-judge bench led by the Chief Justice, had been paid as compensation to the victims of the Easter Sunday attacks. The case stemmed from fundamental rights petitions filed against the respondents’ failure to prevent the coordinated attacks. To monitor the disbursement of these funds, 13 related fundamental rights petitions were taken up on Thursday before a three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Murdu Fernando, Justices S. Thurairaja, and A.H.M.D. Nawaz. Representing the Attorney General, Additional Solicitor General Viveka Siriwardena informed the court that Rs. 311 million had been allocated for compensation, of which Rs. 245 million had already been distributed among 412 individuals, including the families of 215 deceased victims.
She further stated that Rs. 65 million from the allocated funds was expected to be used for victims’ medical treatment and for the care of affected elderly individuals.
President’s Counsel Shamil Perera and Sanjeeva Jayawardena, appearing on behalf of Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo, and the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, respectively, told the court that they had not yet received detailed reports on the compensation payments.
Chief Justice Fernando asked the Additional Solicitor General why those reports had not been provided to the relevant parties. The Additional Solicitor General responded that the proceedings were focused on monitoring the disbursement of compensation to victims.
The Chief Justice, however, noted that withholding those reports from the petitioners did not align with the objectives of the case. She ordered that the reports be immediately provided to the Cardinal and the other petitioners.The court scheduled the next hearing of the petitions for 21 May.
…. Gnanakka also received Rs. 28 mn
Chief Government Whip Minister Nalinda Jayathissa said on Thursday that the Ranil Wickremesinghe government had spent an additional Rs. 1,125 million as compensation for individuals whose houses were destroyed in 2022.
That was in addition to the Rs. 1,221 million paid to politicians as compensation, Minister Jayatissa said, revealing that an astrologer called Gnanakka from Anuradhapura had received Rs. 28 million in compensation for her Devalaya destroyed by mobs in 2022. (SI)
By Saman Indrajith
During yesterday’s parliamentary session, Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya disclosed the expenditure incurred by the state on foreign trips undertaken by Sri Lanka’s Presidents.
Mahinda Rajapaksa’s foreign trips between 2010 and 2014 cost Rs 3,572 million. His successor, Maithripala Sirisena spent Rs 384 million on overseas travel from 2015 to 2019. Gotabaya Rajapaksa spent Rs. 126 million from 2019 to 2022, while President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s foreign travel between 2023 and 2024 cost the state Rs 533 million.
In contrast, the current president, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, had spent only Rs 1.8 million on foreign travel since assuming office in September 2024, the PM said.
The Prime Minister highlighted that the most expensive year for presidential foreign travel during that period was 2013, when Mahinda Rajapaksa’s trips alone amounted to an unprecedented Rs 1,144 million.
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