Kerosene subsidy may be abolished soon

By Ifham Nizam

Plans were afoot to revise the price of kerosene by providing financial assistance to those who needed relief, Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said yesterday.

The minister said that the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation incurred a loss of Rs. 275.26 per litre of kerosene by selling it at Rs. 87 to help low income earners.

The Minister said that it was being planned to provide relief to low income earners including fishermen and plantation workers instead of subsidised kerosene through a committee consisting of Fisheries Inspectors, Tea Inspectors and Divisional Secretaries.

Wijesekera also said that the heavily-subsidised kerosene was misused by various groups as it is being sold at a low price and a large number of people were buying kerosene for cooking.

He said that some bus drivers and certain industries too were stockpiling kerosene when diesel was increasing in price and using it to run their vehicles and industries.

He also requested the Minister of Transport to investigate whether they had used diesel or kerosene in issuing smoke certificates to buses. The release of kerosene had been restricted until the situation was rectified, he said.