The Hon. S. M. Marikkar

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chairperson, this Government said, “Energy is the bloodstream of the people, economy, and transport.” Yet, you still operate with “secret formulas.” You promised to cut a Rs. 9,000 bill to Rs. 6,000; a year later bills remain high. You claim CEB makes a Rs. 13 billion loss; that is false. CEB has about Rs. 21 billion profit, but you fold in legacy debt to inflate the deficit and pass it to consumers. Under the law, PUCSL, not the Ministry, adjusts tariffs, and a portion of CEB profits should cushion consumers—so tariffs should go down, not up.

¶ 02 You formed four entities in the reform, spending around Rs. 10 billion on staff transfers and compensation, yet appointed the same old faces to chair and run them—former CEB officers, LECO officials, including one who ordered an Rs. 8 million black Mercedes despite a Rs. 7 million car being available. Appointments flout the Act—no procurement or finance expertise on the board of Electricity Generation Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd., only engineers.

¶ 03 On system blackouts: you appointed a committee of professors but implemented none of the recommendations; instead, we hear of a tender to buy batteries. On LNG: tenders are structured to exclude local firms while a Chinese company moves under the guise of a “white elephant” arrangement.

¶ 04 CPC shows big profits because it prices fuel oil to CEB at Rs. 177/litre while direct import could be around Rs. 155 without tax, Rs. 166 with tax. Yugadanavi’s per-unit cost is Rs. 41; direct import could reduce it by about Rs. 5, benefitting consumers. Similarly for diesel: retail to power is Rs. 277/litre, but import parity without tax could be ~Rs. 205; Kelanitissa’s per unit cost could drop from Rs. 67 to Rs. 50. Yet you boast CPC profits of Rs. 10.5 billion, squeezing consumers.

¶ 05 On solar policy, your amendments discourage solar by slashing buyback rates and then excuse it saying “no battery framework”—a year on, still nothing. You scrapped the National Electricity Advisory Council and replaced it with a pliant committee. Donors like the World Bank, ADB, and JICA have warned about investment climate risks while you claim USD 5 billion for transmission without credible pathways.

¶ 06 On a Trincomalee solar project, the Minister is allegedly pushing Blue Sun Technologies (100 percent owned by 11111 Construction Pvt. Ltd.), a firm linked to his past employment, without environmental, land, or CEB grid approvals—issuing directions via the Secretary and Private Secretary, not in writing under his own hand.

¶ 07 People are suffering. Smartphones aside, many elderly use basic phones; when power is cut, they cannot even call. Provide grace periods before disconnections. On the Trincomalee oil tanks: after protests and agreements, nothing has started. You took office with a Rs. 5.5 billion Treasury surplus; lacking investment and dollar inflows, you now spin tall tales. Deliver your promises on food, education, health taxes, fuel Rs. 50 cut, and electricity tariff reduction, instead of theatrics.

¶ 08 We support cracking down on drugs and the underworld 200 percent, but show the public what is actually being destroyed; otherwise doubts prevail. We will not destabilize the country; you have four years. Keep your promises and stop embarrassing the President. We will summon the many corruption files if needed. Thank you.