Electricity Consumers’ Assoc. accuses govt. of attempting to approve ten solar power projects through backdoor

 Electricity Consumers’ Association Secretary Sanjeewa Dhammika says the government is attempting to approve 10 solar power projects through a Cabinet subcommittee, bypassing the established procedures. Addressing the media at Katubedda yesterday, Dhammika charged that if implemented, the project would cause an additional financial burden of Rs. 33,600 on every electricity consumer.

“Normally, when a company initiates a solar project, it must bear the cost of power transmission as required by law. However, the government is now preparing to cover those costs on behalf of ten selected companies,” he said.

According to Dhammika, the government has already estimated the transmission cost of the 10 projects at over Rs. 233 billion, which will be passed on to the public. “That means an expense previously borne by private companies will now fall on the shoulders of the people,” he said.

“When divided among Sri Lanka’s 6.9 million electricity consumers, this amounts to an additional Rs. 33,600 per customer,” he noted.

“It’s like charging consumers for 33,000 watts of electricity they never used,” Dhammika said, claiming that while the government typically purchased solar power at Rs. 17.60 per unit, it had agreed to buy power from those 10 projects at Rs. 18 per unit, despite the availability of suppliers willing to provide over 300 MW at lower rates.

“This is similar to the controversial LNG agreement that replaced diesel power generation,” he said.

Dhammika added that when calculated over a five-year period, the government’s Rs. 233 billion commitment translated to a non-interest cost of Rs. 38.63 per unit, which, combined with the Rs. 18 purchase price, would raise cost per unit to Rs. 56.63.

“This is not a solar power promotion – it’s a new way to burden the people for the benefit of a few companies,” Dhammika said.

A senior CEB official, contacted for comment, said they would issue a detailed response later.

By Anuradha Hiripitiyage ✍️

(AFP) President Anura Kumara Dissanayake vowed Friday to overhaul the country’s loss-making national airline after the government failed to find a buyer, in line with commitments under an IMF bailout.

Successive administrations have sought to sell SriLankan Airlines, which has been burdening the state budget, but Dissanayake told parliament there had been “no takers” despite sustained efforts to attract a foreign buyer.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) granted a $2.9 billion bailout loan to Sri Lanka in 2023 and had insisted that loss-making state enterprises, including the carrier, should be restructured or sold to ease the strain on public finances.

The carrier, with accumulated losses nearing $2 billion by the end of March 2025, still has an outstanding $175 million sovereign-guaranteed bond awaiting rescheduling.

Dissanayake said the process was expected to be completed by year’s end.

“We will also restructure the management of SriLankan Airlines early next year,” Dissanayake told parliament while unveiling the 2026 budget for the country, which is emerging from its worst economic meltdown in 2022.

He said the management has been asked to formulate a credible business plan to salvage the carrier.

“Should the taxpayers carry the huge burden of SriLankan Airlines?” he asked, warning that if the reforms failed “alternative action” would follow, without elaborating.

The country defaulted on its $46 billion foreign debt in April 2022 after running out of foreign exchange.

The government was on track to resume repaying its own commercial external debt from 2028, thanks to better-than-expected export earnings and remittances, Dissanayake said.

He also proposed reducing the government’s borrowing limit by $200 million next year as the country’s debt burden is expected to gradually decline in the short term.

The IMF has said Sri Lanka’s reforms are paying off, but the country should maintain the momentum amid the “heightened downside risks” posed by global trade uncertainties.

Sri Lanka’s 2022 economic crisis led to months of street protests that eventually toppled then-president Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

The World Bank has warned that Sri Lanka’s recovery remains “uneven and incomplete”, with many households yet to regain livelihoods lost during the 2022 crisis.

by Amal Jayasinghe ✍️

A controversial road development project cutting through the Knuckles Conservation Forest — part of Sri Lanka’s UNESCO World Heritage Central Highlands — has sparked outrage among conservationists, who warn it could devastate one of the island’s most ecologically sensitive mountain ecosystems, said Sajeewa Chamikara of Movement for Land and Agricultural Reform (MONLAR).

Chamikara said that tourism operators and several safari jeep owners, in collaboration with Kandy District MPs E.M. Basnayake and Jagath Manuwarna, have reportedly secured approval to carpet and open an eight-kilometre forest trail between Thangappuwa and Corbett’s Gap for jeep safaris. The decision, facilitated at a meeting on August 22, 2025, by officials of the Land Use Policy Planning Department, was made despite the area falling within a legally protected conservation zone.

Construction is already underway on the section from Rangala to Thangappuwa, which lies outside the protected boundary. Once completed, the project aims to extend into the Knuckles forest reserve itself — widening paths, cutting slopes, and laying asphalt through the core zone.

Environmental experts warn the move is illegal under the Forest Ordinance and National Environmental Act, which prohibit land clearing, road construction, or development activities within conservation forests without environmental impact assessments and central approvals. Violators face imprisonment or heavy fines.

Chamikara said the initiative is being driven by a group of hoteliers and business owners in Thangappuwa and Rangala and several other local entrepreneurs.

He said that scientists had pointed out that the Knuckles-Dumbara range is home to numerous endemic species found nowhere else on Earth — including rare amphibians like the Dumbara shrub frog, unique reptiles such as the Dumbara horned lizard, and more than 30 endemic bird species. Any disturbance, they warn, could destroy critical microhabitats, increase temperatures, and accelerate species extinction.

Chamikara said that the project directly contradicts the government’s own “Prosperous Country, Beautiful Life” policy, which pledges to uphold ecological justice and protect sensitive zones. By supporting illegal development, MPs and officials are accused of violating these commitments and undermining public trust.

Conservationists urge the President and Environment Minister to immediately intervene to halt the project, stressing that the Knuckles range — the principal watershed of the Mahaweli River — is too valuable to be sacrificed for short-term commercial gain.

“This is not development. It is the destruction of a world heritage site,” Chamikara said.

Relevant ministers and officials were unavailable for comment as they were attending the budget debate in Parliament on Friday.