Sri Lanka’s power sector reform programme has reached a critical milestone, with the Initial Vesting Plan to restructure the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and establish successor companies now completed and ready for Cabinet approval.

Speaking to The Island, Director General of the Power Sector Reforms Secretariat, Eng. Pubudu Niroshan Hedigallage, said the programme, launched under the Sri Lanka Electricity (Amendment) Act No. 36 of 2024, is being implemented in two phases — the Initial Vesting Plan and the Final Vesting Plan — within the Secretariat’s two-year mandate, ending on June 26, 2026.

“The Initial Vesting Plan, which details the creation of successor companies and the transfer of CEB assets, liabilities, duties and operations, has now been finalised in line with the policy directions of the Minister of Power and Energy,” he said.

Eng. Hedigallage added that the plan incorporates observations from the Attorney General and guidance from the Minister of Finance and the Secretary to the Treasury, ensuring alignment with wider fiscal consolidation and structural reform objectives.

Once Cabinet approval is obtained, the Minister in charge will gazette the appointed date on which the CEB will be legally dissolved. Prior to that, the CEB Board must complete the transfer of assets and liabilities to the new companies, which will take over electricity services and commercial operations from that date.

He said the preparatory work was completed over 15 months with voluntary contributions from Secretariat members, including himself, Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka President Eng. Kosala Kamburadeniya and Dr. Indra Mahakalanda.

Clarifying media reports on his resignation, Eng. Hedigallage said the move was a formal administrative step to ensure a smooth and speedy transfer, and did not indicate any disruption to the reform agenda.

“The reforms will advance for the benefit of employees opting for voluntary retirement, those joining the successor companies, electricity consumers, and the national economy,” he said, adding that the move also supports Sri Lanka’s ongoing IMF-backed structural adjustment programme.

By Ifham Nizam

A head-on collision, involving a car and a van at Navadankulama, Mundalama, along the Puttalam–Colombo main road, in the early hours of yesterday (12), claimed the lives of three persons and left five others, including a six-year-old child, injured.

The dead were identified as the 26-year-old driver of the car Lahiru Heshan Costa and two passengers – Mary Theresa Costa, 84, and Subhashini Jayasinghe, 58.

The five injured were in the van that came from the direction of Puttalam.

Police said that the driver and the two women succumbed to their injuries after being rushed to the Mundalama Hospital.

Four persons died in a head-on collision involving a car and a bus at Murasumoddai on the Paranthan-Mullaitivu road yesterday. Police said at the time of the accident, five persons were travelling in the car, of whom four died.

In another accident, one person died and six others sustained injuries when a three-wheeler collided with a car at Oyamaduwa, Anuradhapura. Police identified the dead person as the driver of the three-wheeler.