News
Threat of power crisis looming large – engineer
By Rathindra Kuruwita
Senior officials in the CEB and Ministry of Power were trying to sabotage investigations into the countrywide power outage earlier this month, Senior Engineers Association Spokesman, Eng. Nandika Pathirage said.
Eng. Pathirage, himself a former President of the powerful CEB Engineers’ Union claimed those officials had even been attempting to discourage investigators from proceeding with the probe.
He said that Sri Lanka was on the verge of a power crisis. “We don’t build power plants. In a few months, we will have to purchase emergency power,” Pathirage said.
During the past few months, hydro power plants had been operating at full capacity due to heavy rains. The rains had now stopped, he said.
“The coming months will be dry. It is a good time to generate solar power. However, we have done nothing to expand our solar power infrastructure. In fact, the CEB has thwarted attempts by various governments to boost solar infrastructure,” he said.
Eng. Pathirage said there were enough experts in Sri Lanka who could build renewable energy infrastructure. If wind and solar power infrastructure was built up Sri Lanka could save a lot of foreign currency too, he said.
“There is no need to attract large foreign investors. We can manage with local expertise and we can save a lot of foreign exchange” he said.
The Secretary to the Ministry of Power was not immediately available for comment.
Following the conclusion of bilateral discussions between President Anura Kumara Disanayake and Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi, official-level talks between the delegations of Sri Lanka and India commenced this morning (05) at the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo.
Representing the Government of Sri Lanka were Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism, Vijitha Herath; Minister of Labour and Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Anil Jayantha; Secretary to the President Dr. Nandika Sanath Kumanayake; Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Dr. P. Nandalal Weerasinghe, along with other senior officials.
The Indian delegation included Minister of External Affairs Dr. S. Jaishankar, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri and His Excellency Santosh Jha, High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka, along with several other senior officials of the Government of India.
Indian Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, who arrived in Sri Lanka on the invitation of President Anura Kumara Disanayake on Friday [04] night, visited the Presidential Secretariat this morning (05).
The Indian Prime Minister was warmly welcomed by President Anura Kumara Disanayake upon his arrival at the Presidential Secretariat.
Prime Minister Modi is currently on a state visit to Sri Lanka, reaffirming the theme “Friendship of Centuries — Commitment to a Prosperous Future” which symbolises the longstanding ties between Sri Lanka and India. The Indian Premier is scheduled to remain in the country until tomorrow (06).
[PMD]
The official welcoming ceremony for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was held this morning (05) at the Independence Square in Colombo.
On arrival at the Independence Square the Indian Prime Minister was warmly welcomed by President Anura Kumara Disanayake.
Discussions between Sri Lankan and Indian delegations at the presidential secretariat
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Indian Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi arrives at the presidential secretariat
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