The Hon. S.M. Marikkar

¶ 01 Hon. Speaker, I present the Report of the Sectoral Oversight Committee on Infrastructure and Strategic Development on the Sri Lanka Electricity (Amendment) Bill referred to the said Committee.

¶ 02 Ordered to lie upon the Table.

¶ 03 Hon. Speaker, since the entire country has focused its attention on this Bill, our Committee met not once but three times. We especially invited external stakeholders such as the Public Utilities Commission, the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce, and the Solar Industries Association, listened to their views, and then met again with the concurrence of the Ministry of Power and Energy before arriving at this decision.

¶ 04 When preparing this Committee Report, we placed significant emphasis on affirming consumer rights. The Committee, together with the Ministry and the Public Utilities Commission, undertook to present within a month a report on that aspect. Furthermore, certain matters raised at the Committee, with the concurrence of the Attorney-General, were agreed to be brought before Parliament. We also agreed not to wait until the last moment but to commence now the work to establish a subcommittee for presenting a National Energy Bill in the future. A particularly commendable aspect is this: the 2024 Bill proposes to unbundle generation, transmission and distribution — presently kept under Government ownership — within two years. We secured the Ministry’s agreement to carry out that work within one year in a manner that attracts private investment, given the urgent need to upgrade the transmission system and the requirement for approximately USD 5 billion in investment, which the Government cannot presently provide. Hence, private investment must be attracted.

¶ 05 Finally, on two further points: the Committee decided that ownership of transmission corridors and assets — especially land — should be 100 per cent with the Government. Also, the existing committee has been dissolved and a new committee appointed by the Minister to obtain advice. Therefore, we have included in the Bill that persons with professional qualifications and experience must be appointed to that committee, and to eliminate political interference, individuals should not be appointed as directors of multiple companies.

¶ 06 If there are benefits not yet received by the consumer under this Bill, steps have been initiated to bring in Consumer Rights Regulations as well.

¶ 07 Thank you, Hon. Speaker.