The Hon. Shanakiyan Rajaputhiran Rasamanickam

¶ 01 Thank you, Sir.

¶ 02 First, to the previous Hon. Member: though you sit on the back bench of the Opposition side, you belong to the Government, not the Opposition. Your speech suited a Grade 5 class.

¶ 03 We debate the Energy Ministry’s estimates. The Sunday Morning carried a message suggesting drought could drive up electricity prices and a tariff hike by 1 June, citing CEB Spokesman Eng. Dhammika Wimalaratne. Is there a move towards emergency power purchases again?

¶ 04 Former Minister Kanchana Wijesekera, despite political differences, performed significant duties under the last Government. This Government is breaking what he built.

¶ 05 From CPC: EconomyNext (06 Nov 2024) reported, “We are compelled to go with the price formula due to previous agreements.” You have a two-thirds majority and an Executive President. You could renegotiate if you cared about the people. Instead, you blame past agreements. Before the 21 September election, President Anura Dissanayake and the JVP said fuel was overpriced due to excessive taxes and politicians’ commissions. I have the January fuel price formula: for petrol, Singapore Platts plus taxes yields Rs. 298.85, yet you sold at Rs. 309 — Rs. 10 more than formula. For diesel, Rs. 270 by formula but sold at Rs. 286 — Rs. 16 more. Who is cheating now?

¶ 06 A Cabinet Minister says future petrol prices can be reduced, yet the engineer says prices must go up. Which is it? Under the IMF agreement, revenue must reach 15.1 percent of GDP — how will you cut prices then?

¶ 07 On CEB and renewables: the previous Government had a plan to reach 70 percent renewables by 2030. Your Government has suspended all wind projects, including Adani’s. In 2024, planned additions were 100 MW wind and 483 MW solar; in 2025, another 100 MW wind and 505 MW solar. Now all are suspended. We accept there were environmental concerns and local objections about turbine locations in Mannar, and those could have been resolved. Adani’s agreed rate was 8 US cents per kWh, negotiated with CEB; EIA and bird migration studies were done; Adani was to build a jetty for turbines, later to serve fishermen. If there were transparency concerns, you could have renegotiated. Instead, you suspended a US$ 1 billion investment without alternatives. One litre of diesel produces about 4 units; one MW of solar produces roughly 4,000 units per day, or about 1.5 million units per year. A 100 MW solar project could have supplied about 200,000 households. Suspending these will force you back to thermal or power cuts, and we fear emergency power purchases — historically riddled with corruption.

¶ 08 I will not name individuals, but there is a Cabinet Minister now who was interdicted at the Fertilizer Corporation for financial fraud; this raises legitimate suspicions. When you halt wind additions, cite drought, then go for emergency purchases, it looks like facilitating kickbacks. Many solar tenders called in 2021 still have no signed PPAs; companies have parked tens of millions of dollars, secured land, done EIA work, but no agreements are signed.

¶ 09 Instead of addressing these, you spend time attacking the Opposition. Is the politburo stopping you from discussing the subject?

¶ 10 Especially on Adani: he has now pulled out. He was to add 488 MW to the Grid. By destroying the previous trajectory towards 70 percent renewables by 2030, you endanger the energy sector.

¶ 11 In my district, when allocating land for solar plants, please consider village land availability carefully. Solar generation is important, but companies pay only a standard lease like any other. For example, in Vavunativu DS Division, the Reiham village has virtually no free land left for village development. Hon. Deputy Minister Arun Hemachandra, you chair the Batticaloa DCC — please ensure that when land is allocated for solar, the welfare and future development space of local communities are protected. Also, DCC decisions taken last December in Batticaloa have not been implemented — on sand mining, fisheries issues, etc. You carry multiple responsibilities; do not let district problems spill to the streets. Today there was a major protest at Araiyampathy due to rising gang violence.

¶ 12 Hon. Chairman, I am winding up. Two days ago, during the Defence Ministry committee debate, the Hon. President said underworld groups may operate in Batticaloa and Jaffna. Senior politicians are here, including Hon. Hisbullah. If you cannot handle it, let the NPP administer Batticaloa district until you can. We cannot keep watching district issues spill onto the streets.

¶ 13 Please respond to the specific questions I raised — either now or later in the Lobby.