News
Last year, CEB recorded staggering increase of Rs 590 mn in additional payments
Trade union wants to appear before COPE
By Shamindra Ferdinando
United Trade Union Alliance Convener Ranjan Jayalal yesterday (23) said that the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) should give a fair hearing to issues relating to waste, corruption, irregularities as well as mismanagement in the power sector.
Unfortunately, the watchdog committee only sought the views of the top management of loss making CEB, trade unionist Jayalal said.
The activist said so when The Island asked for his response to the disclosure made at the COPE recently that in addition to monthly salaries about Rs 1,544.4 mn and Rs 2,134.9 mn had been paid to workers in 2020 and 2021, respectively in violation of a Cabinet decision taken on 14 Nov. 2008 and the Management Services Circular of No 39 of 26 May 2009.
When The Island pointed out that there had been a staggering Rs 590 mn increase in various additional payments made to workers last year, Jayalal stressed that the COPE should ask for a breakdown. The top management included the engineers, who should accept responsibility for the current crisis, Jayalal said, the primary issues at hand were created and caused by the top management and their political masters.
The new controversy erupted in the wake of CEB Chairman M.M.C. Ferdinando after his declaration that President Gotabaya Rajapaksa intervened on behalf of India’s Adani Group.
Jayalal said that Prof. Charitha Herath MP, who headed COPE, shouldn’t forget that the ruling party he represented had ruined the CEB. Successive governments had accommodated their supporters in the CEB, he said, adding that political appointees in turn simply exploited the state enterprise for their benefit, and the CEB had ended up in a dire financial situation.
A senior CEB official declined to comment on the disclosures made by the COPE. Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said the Board of Management would respond, in writing, to the issues raised by the COPE. The media would have to obtain the CEB’s response from the parliamentary body, the official said. He declined to comment on assertions made by the COPE on the CEB.
Jayalal said that as several ministers appointed by the SLFP-led PA, UPFA and SLPP had been at the helm of the Ministry of Power, they should accept responsibility for excess executive staff and workers in the CEB.
Responding to another query, he said the CEB management always cooperated with those in power. They quite conveniently bent laws and regulations to appease the power minister whoever held that portfolio, Jayalal said, urging parliamentary watchdog committees to seek explanation from the past and present ministers.
Jayalal said that the President appointed both the ministers and Secretaries to the Ministries as well. Therefore, COPE and two other watchdogs, Committee on Public Finance (COPF) and Committee on Public Accounts (COPA), too, should be mindful of ground realities as corruption here was now endemic.
The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CEYPETCO) has announced a revision of fuel prices, effective from midnight on Saturday (May 30).
Accordingly,
the price of Auto Diesel has been increased by Rs. 15 to Rs.407 per liter,
the price of Super Diesel has been increased by Rs. 20 to Rs. 478 per liter.
the price of Petrol 92 Octane has been increased by Rs. 24 to Rs. 434 per liter
the price of Petrol 95 Octane up by Rs. 25 to Rs. 495 per liter
the price of kerosene by Rs. 20 to Rs. 285 per liter.
Former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga has called for a comprehensive reform programme within Sri Lanka’s Buddhist clergy, warning that repeated efforts to strengthen the Sasana have in the past been derailed by opposition from within sections of the Sangha itself.
In a statement addressed to the Mahanayake Theras of the three Buddhist chapters, Kumaratunga stressed that the long-term preservation of Buddhism depends on safeguarding both the Dhamma and Vinaya, or disciplinary code, and urged urgent internal reform to address what she described as deep-rooted structural weaknesses.
She noted that Buddhist history has consistently demonstrated that periods of institutional crisis were addressed through reform processes, citing precedents from the First Buddhist Council to reforms during the Kandyan era under Welivita Sri Saranankara Thera.
Referring to post-independence efforts, Kumaratunga said initiatives taken during the 1956 Bandaranaike administration to strengthen Buddhism were left incomplete following the assassination of former Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike.
She further stated that during her own presidency, plans to convene a Buddhist Council under the guidance of the late Madihe Pannasiha Mahanayake Thera had received government backing but were ultimately abandoned due to resistance from certain sections within the clergy.
The former President alleged that, on both occasions, vested interests benefiting from existing weaknesses within the Buddhist establishment had worked to obstruct meaningful reform efforts.
Warning that Buddhism in Sri Lanka is currently facing serious challenges, she called for a broad internal dialogue within the Sangha to identify root causes and implement both short- and long-term corrective measures.
Kumaratunga urged the Mahanayake Theras to take the lead in convening a Dharma Sanghayana, or Buddhist Council, and said she was prepared to work with senior lay Buddhist leaders to support such an initiative.
The Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court on Friday ordered the arrest of former Minister Basil Rajapaksa, Tourism Promotion Bureau Chairman Bhashwara Gunaratne, Managing Director Rumi Jauffer and several others over the alleged misuse of Rs. 7.8 million belonging to the Tourism Promotion Authority during the 2014 Uva Provincial Council election campaign.
Magistrate Pasan Amarasena directed the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to arrest and produce the suspects before court, after it was informed that they would be named under the Public Property Act on the advice of the Attorney General.
The CID told court that attempts to take the suspects into custody from their residences had been unsuccessful as they were not present.
The Magistrate also imposed an overseas travel ban on the suspects and ordered that the Controller of Immigration and Emigration be notified.
Investigations have reportedly revealed that the funds were used to print 12,000 T-shirts bearing an image of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa on one side and the name of a political party on the other.
According to the CID, the T-shirts were later distributed at a political event held in the Monaragala District.
Showers expected in the Western, Sabaragamuwa and North-western provinces and in Galle, Matara, Kandy and Nuwara-Eliya districts
Fuel prices increased
Sangha reform drives stymied from within: CBK
Court orders arrest of Basil
Dayasiri raises alarm over ‘coal cartel’, flags national security risks
Coal procurement probe: Statements to begin next week
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
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