News
PUCSL employees call for probe to find out who delayed construction of power plants
By Rathindra Kuruwita
The Employees Union of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (EUPUCSL) yesterday urged President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to appoint a Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) to find out reasons for the delay in constructing power plants, which has led to costly emergency power purchases.
Chairman of the EUPUCSL, Dr. Nilantha Sapumanage said that there was an attempt to mislead the public and policy makers into believing that the PUCSL was responsible for the delay at issue.
Sapumanage said: “We want the President to conduct an investigation into this and find out who is behind the delay in the construction of the power plants.”
Sapumanage said that a sustainable source of electricity was a prerequisite for realising the President’s economic vision.
Since 2015 new power plants had not been built, Sapumanage said. While the PUCSL was in charge of approving the long term generation plans prepared by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB,) the responsibility of constructing the plants lay with the CEB, Sapumanage said.
“It is obvious that power plants have not been constructed. We believe that certain parties want to purchase emergency power at high prices and they are behind the delays in plant construction. There are attempts to prevent the realisation of the President’s goal of meeting 70% of the country’s power requirement with renewable energy by 2030.”
The EUPUCSL President said that a regulator was necessary for the electricity sector because it was a monopoly. Therefore, a regulator played a vital role in securing the interest of the consumers. “The importance of a regulator is accepted by all, including the CEB’s Engineers’ Union. There is also a universal consensus that the water supply and petroleum sectors too need a regulator. Given this context it’s strange to see attempts being made to disband the PUCSL.”
In the face of those facts, the President should appoint a PCoI to look into who is behind the delay in power plant construction before shutting down the PUCSL, Sapumanage said.
The government, under heavy Opposition fire over inclusion of a sex website in the Grade 6 English module, as well as overall education reforms, has decided to put on hold reforms in respect of Grade 6.
Cabinet Spokesman and Media and Health Minister Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa announced the government decision yesterday (13) at the post-Cabinet media briefing at the Information Department.
According to him, the decision had been taken at the previous day’s Cabinet meeting, chaired by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake. Dr. Jayatissa said that education reforms pertaining to Garde 6 had been put on hold until 2027.
The Minister said that other proposed education reforms would be implemented as planned. The Minister said that action would be taken against those responsible for the inclusion of a link to a sex website following investigations conducted by the Criminal Investigation Department and the National Education Institute.
The SJB and several other political parties, as well as civil society groups, have accused the government of promoting an LGBTQ agenda, through the proposed education reforms.
The Opposition grouping Mahajana Handa, on Monday, made representations to the Mahanayake Thera of the Malwatta Chapter regarding the controversial reforms, while urging their intervention to halt the project.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake yesterday (13) vowed to go ahead with his government’s agenda, regardless of the destruction caused by Cyclone Ditwah.
Emphasising the responsibility on the part of all to contribute to the post-Ditwah recovery efforts, President Dissanayake said that he would have complete faith in the public service.
The President said so at the launch of the re-building Sri Lanka project at the BMICH yesterday.
The JVP and NPP leader said that he wouldn’t take advantage of the death and destruction caused by the cyclone or use the situation as an excuse to reverse their agenda or weaken it.
President Dissanayake said that in spite of many calling for amending the then Budget, in view of the cyclone, the government presented the proposals that were agreed before the disaster struck.
The United States has announced that it will provide the Sri Lanka Air Force with 10 US Navy TH-57 helicopters free of charge.
The announcement was made by outgoing US Ambassador Julie Chung, who stated, on social media, that the helicopters would be transferred under the United States’ Excess Defence Articles programme. The aircraft are Bell 206 Sea Ranger helicopters previously operated by the US Navy.
US sources said that the transfer was intended to strengthen Sri Lanka’s disaster response capabilities, following the devastating cyclone that struck the island at the end of 2025 and killed more than 600 people. US officials have framed the move as a humanitarian measure aimed at improving aerial rescue and relief operations.
Fair weather will prevail except for a few showers in the Uva, Eastern, Western and Central provinces and in Galle, Matara and Rathnapura districts
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Govt. bows to pressure, shelves Grade 6 reforms
AKD: Govt. agenda on track despite Ditwah disaster
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