The Hon. (Mrs.) Geetha Herath, Attorney-at-Law

¶ 01 Thank you, Hon. Presiding Member.

¶ 02 A change is unquestionably needed in the power sector. The Hon. Namal Rajapaksa tried to say we are merely changing the cover while doing what they intended. To him I say: during the time you and your family governed, you had the chance to do those changes; you did not. You said tariffs are high, people are suffering, transformers were torched, etc. Under your rule the people’s lives were on fire. Tariffs are high today because the proper reforms were not undertaken.

¶ 03 As a Government elected by the people, we introduced reforms to bring appropriate changes: aligned to the economy, protecting employee rights, and providing relief to consumers. Through this restructuring we seek benefits to the economy and to electricity consumers. The CEB was set up by Act No. 17 of 1969; decades have passed. Those provisions were good for that time but are now outdated. To rebuild a shattered economy, stop bearing excessive costs, and reduce tariffs, we need change.

¶ 04 We bring these Amendments for that purpose. Other countries in the region—Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines—restructured and moved ahead. The 2024 Act would have led to privatization—dividing CEB into 12 companies, most open to private hands. Our Amendment creates four companies for generation, transmission, distribution and system control, with ownership retained by the State. There will be no privatization under this Amendment; the privatization path in the 2024 law is removed.

¶ 05 Hon. Kabir Hashim said they proposed amendments around 2001. That was about 25 years ago; they had time to implement, but did not. Today we must see whether our restructuring has shortcomings. Since they cannot fault the merits today, they hark back to documents of 2001.

¶ 06 The objective of this Bill is to set up a national electricity system as part of the national energy policy, to introduce different types of electricity markets for competitive and efficient supply, and to ensure uninterrupted and reliable supply while enhancing efficiency, competition and transparency.

¶ 07 Globally, governments alone cannot do this; private investment is necessary. Whatever is done through restructuring, the end benefit must be felt by consumers, primarily via distribution. For a more customer-friendly distribution segment we will necessarily leverage private investment.

¶ 08 We recognize problems such as high electricity costs, overreliance on imported fossil fuels, the need to add new generation to the system, and eliminating inefficiencies. Hence powers will be vested in four companies accordingly.

¶ 09 On employees: there are about 23,000. Their rights will be protected; no one will lose jobs. The pension and EPF/ETF funds will be managed via a separate company, safeguarding all retirees and current employees. No benefit will be lost. Staff will be assigned respecting their consent, with an option for voluntary retirement.

¶ 10 Finally, as a people’s Government, we protect workers’ rights while presenting progressive reforms for the sector’s advancement. I conclude.

¶ 11 Thank you.