The Hon. Wasantha Samarasinghe - Minister of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, during today’s debate on the Head of Expenditure of the Ministry of Power and Energy, the institution that draws special attention is the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), which is under the Ministry of Power and Energy.

¶ 02 There are several institutions under this Ministry including the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation and the Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority, among others. Some institutions will not be discussed today. During the debate, our Hon. Minister of Power presented key points. The State Minister of Power also did. Other Ministers raised important issues. The Opposition, too, presented matters that should not be dismissed, and I acknowledge that. Some issues raised by the Opposition relate directly to power sector reforms. The objective of those reforms is to minimize fraud, corruption and waste, enhance efficiency, reduce costs, lower the burden on the people, provide cheaper electricity, reduce production costs, and lower electricity bills for our industrialists. Increasing export competitiveness to raise export earnings is also an aim. Reducing costs enables better wages for workers. All reforms should be aimed at achieving these goals.

¶ 03 What had been delayed for two to three decades, we completed within a year. That is the strength of our Government. Within a year, we established six companies 100% owned by the CEB. These are not private companies; they are fully owned by the CEB. They cover generation, system operation, transmission, pension and benefit funds, and residual services. Work has commenced, and next year we will strengthen these efforts further, fulfilling the necessary steps to carry out these responsibilities. We will take decisions to benefit the economy and consumers through competition and transparency, because lower prices come through competition.

¶ 04 We discussed at length how the unit cost fell from Rs. 40 to Rs. 12—this does not need repeating. Within a year, we reduced the unit cost from Rs. 40 to Rs. 12. That was our goal. When electricity costs fall, other costs also fall. Some Hon. Members asked who implemented this: the right professionals did, and they succeeded, Hon. Ajith P. Perera. If issues arise, we will resolve them. We are moving forward without problems and will address any that appear.

¶ 05 On LTL: many are asking questions. LTL was owned by the CEB—63% by the CEB, 27% by the private entity Teckpro, and 10% by LTL ESOT Limited as an employees’ trust.