The Opposition has claimed that the government forced three of its Colombo Municipal Council members to to skip yesterday’s vote on the annual budget of the Council. The three councillors who voted with the SJB-led Opposition on 22 Dec., to defeat the NPP, skipped yesterday’s vote.

Two of them didn’t turn up yesterday while the other one left the Council early, claiming his wife was not well. One of the four SLMC councillors switched his allegiance to the NPP. having voted with the Opposition on 22 Dec.

As a result, the CMC’s annual budget was passed with a majority of two votes.

The budget proposal received 58 votes in favour, while 56 councillors voted against it. Last week, the Opposition obtained 60 votes to defeat it, while the NPP managed to secure only 57.

When the 2026 budget of CMC was first presented to the council on 22 December, 60 councilors voted against it while 57 members voted for the budget.

In the last Local Government Elections, the NPP secured power in the CMC and its mayoral candidate Vraie Cally Balthazar was elected as the Mayor of Colombo by securing 61 votes. (SF)

Sri Lanka’s power system has suffered a major setback with two of the three generators at the coal-fired power plant at Norochcholai going out of service, cutting around 600 megawatts from the national grid, even as Energy Ministry officials stressed yesterday that the issue is minor and fully under control.

One unit has been offline since November for scheduled major maintenance carried out once every three years, while another was shut down following a technical fault in its boiler. As a result, only one generator, at the country’s largest and only coal-fired power station, is currently supplying electricity to the grid.

Despite the sharp reduction in coal-based generation, a senior spokesperson for the Norochcholai Power Plant assured that there would be no disruption to electricity supply, as hydroelectric power generation is being increased to compensate for the temporary shortfall from Norochcholai.

Ministry of Power and Energy officials also confirmed that the situation is not serious and does not pose a risk to the stability of the national grid. “This is a minor technical issue and routine maintenance activity. There is no cause for public concern,” a senior Ministry official said.

Meanwhile, a top official of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) said all three units of the Norochcholai Power Plant are expected to be restored by the first week of January, delivering the full 900MW capacity back to the national grid.

“Current reservoir levels are favourable, allowing us to rely more on hydropower during this period,” the CEB official said, adding that system operations are being closely monitored.

A senior electrical engineer told The Island that one unit had been shut down in November for routine maintenance, while another unit suffered an unexpected breakdown earlier this week. “Such incidents are not unusual in large thermal power stations. Corrective work is already under way and the units will be brought back online as scheduled,” he said.

Norochcholai remains the backbone of Sri Lanka’s base-load electricity generation, and while prolonged outages could place strain on the system during dry periods, officials reiterated that current conditions and contingency measures are adequate to ensure uninterrupted power supply until full operations resume.

By Ifham Nizam ✍️

Health Secretary Dr. Anil Jasingha has requested IGP Priyantha Weerasooriya to ensure his security and take action against those issuing death threats.

Dr. Jasingha, in a letter to the IGP, has alleged that a health official who has been suspended from service is using several persons to issue such threats. The Health Secretary has specifically referred to a statement made by civil society activist Asela Sampath on a social media platform to the effect that he should procure a bullet proof vehicle.

The Island learns that the Health Secretary has sought the IGP’s intervention before the Health Service Committee (HSC) of the Public Service Commission (PSC) interdicted Dr. Bellana.