News

CEB restructuring proposals to be finalised in two weeks

Published

4 years ago

2022/09/5

By Ifham Nizam

Proposals pertaining to the restructuring of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) would be finalised within two weeks, a member of the committee handling them told The Island yesterday.Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera, who had a lengthy discussion with the experts, said that the main framework would be presented to the Cabinet by the end of the month.

The committee, which was recently appointed by the Minister for restructuring the CEB, has held talks with development agencies, sector experts, stakeholders and is also due to meet political parties and the power sector regulator, the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) next week.Minister Wijesekera also said although there were capable and efficient workers at the CEB, the CPC, and the CPSTL, the majority were inefficient and incompetent.

“A good 500 workforce instead of the 4,200 could do the job efficiently at CPC, CPSTL, and half of the 26,000 workforces at the CEB,” the Minister added.

The committee appointed to restructure the CEB is headed by Dr R H S Samaratunge – Former Secretary, Finance Ministry , and other members are President’s Counsel Nihal Jayawardhane – Former Legal Consultant to the Public Enterprise Reforms Commission, Attorney at Law Harsha Fernando – Former Senior State Counsel at the AGs Department M M C Ferdinando, Former Secretary, Ministry of Power & Energy, Dr. Susantha Perera – Former AGM, CEB, Thilan Wijesinghe – Former Chairman, Board of Investment, Saliya Wickramasuriya – Chairman, Petroleum Development Authority and Director General, Port City Economic Commission, and Chandana Wijesinghe – Director, Ministry of Power and Energy Minister.

The Committee said that authorities had been struggling for some 24 years since 1998 to restructure the CEB and many efforts over the years to push through the much-needed reforms had failed due to stiff resistance from workers and others.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe has ordered that the restructuring process of unbundling the CEB by setting up state-owned companies jointly with the private sector management to take over the generation, transmission, distribution and other functions be expedited. Sources said there would be one joint venture each for generation and transmission and three or more for distribution, according to the CEB board paper devised recently for the approval of the board of directors before submitting it to the ministry to prepare the cabinet memorandum.

It has also been proposed to form separate power generation joint venture companies to undertake functions of the CEB relating to hydro-electricity, thermal electricity, coal power and non-renewable power generation, power generation, distribution, and other activities as well as Lanka Electricity Company.

These companies will serve as independent power producers (IPP) and will have to sell the energy they generate to the transmission company, along with other IPPs, the CEB board paper indicated.

A new Electricity Reforms Bill or an amendment to the Electricity Reforms Act No. 28 of 2002 will be drafted and presented in Parliament soon to facilitate the restructuring process.The CEB has incurred a large operating loss of Rs. 47.19 billion in the first four months of 2022 compared to the loss of Rs. 7.15 billion in the same period of 2021.

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INS Udaygiri departs Colombo concluding formal visit

Published

8 mins ago

2026/09/11

Priyan

The Indian Naval Ship (INS) Udaygiri departed the Port of Colombo today, 11 September 2026, following the successful completion of a four day official visit.

On her departure, the Sri Lanka Navy bade farewell to the ship in accordance with time-honoured naval traditions.

During the visit, naval personnel from both navies engaged in joint initiatives to strengthen bilateral ties. These included a friendly volleyball match, a beach cleanup along the Galle Face
promenade, and a training exercise on Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure (VBSS) conducted by the Sri Lanka Navy Special Boat Squadron (SBS).

As part of the visit, the Indian Navy handed over a consignment of spares and supplies to the Sri Lanka Navy. Visiting crew members also toured key tourist attractions in and around Colombo.

Official interactions of this nature aim to enhance cooperation and knowledge-sharing between the two maritime forces, supporting joint responses to evolving regional maritime challenges.

News

President meets representatives from Sri Lanka Scout Association

Published

5 hours ago

2026/09/11

Priyan

A meeting between President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and representatives of the Sri Lanka Scout Association was held at the Presidential Secretariat on Thursday (10) afternoon .

The President was briefed on the 11th National Scout Jamboree, scheduled to be held in Sri Lanka in January 2027, as well as the current status and progress of its organisational arrangements.

The official logo of the National Scout Jamboree was also presented to the President and officially unveiled on the occasion.

Views were also exchanged on the programmes currently being implemented by the Sri Lanka Scout Association and its future plans.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake emphasised the importance of expanding the Scout Movement to more schools and the contribution that the Scout Movement can make to the Government’s programmes to combat drugs.

President’s Senior Additional Secretary Roshan Gamage; Chief Scout Commissioner, Attorney-at-Law Manoj Nanayakkara; President of the Sri Lanka Scout Association Ransiri Perera; Deputy Chief Scout Commissioner (Acting) Kapila Perera; Chairman of the Executive Committee Kamalnath Jinadasa; and Jamboree Co-Organising Commissioner, Engineer Amil Abeysundara, were among the senior representatives of the Sri Lanka Scout Association who attended the occasion.

[President’s Media Division]

News

Meeting between Catholic religious leaders and President

Published

6 hours ago

2026/09/11

Priyan

A meeting between President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Catholic religious leaders, led by His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo, was held at the Presidential Secretariat on Thursday (10).

Special attention was given to the Government’s programme to strengthen coexistence, peace and reconciliation among all communities in the country and to ensure national unity by preventing any form of racist or religiously motivated hate activity.

The progress of investigations into the Easter Sunday attacks was also discussed.

Lengthy discussions were held on measures that could be taken to prevent environmental damage and destruction affecting the lives of the people.

The Catholic religious leaders commended the measures taken by the Government to safeguard trust among all communities and expressed their fullest support for these efforts.

The issues faced by Catholic communities, including infrastructure development in areas where Catholic people reside, as well as measures that should be taken to address these issues, were also discussed at length.

Rev. Fr. Cyril Gamini, Rev. Fr. Julian Patrick and other priests, as well as Deputy Minister of Religious and Cultural Affairs Muneer Mulaffer, President’s Senior Additional Secretary Roshan Gamage and others, were also present at the meeting.

President’s Media Division (PMD)