The Hon. Arjuna Sujeewa Senasinghe, Attorney-at-Law

¶ 01 Thank you very much, Hon. Presiding Member. Please allow me to speak with some quiet. Thank you. Hon. (Dr.) Archchuna, please sit down. Hon. Members, please sit down and be quiet.

¶ 02 On the Ministry of Power and Energy, we point the finger at the Government. Hon. (Dr.) Archchuna, please sit down. We ask directly: have you fulfilled the grand promises you made before coming to power? You spoke about petrol, diesel and electricity bills. I do not think I need to dwell on it. This Government came to power on a mountain of lies. Hon. Mano Ganesan, if you tax the President’s falsehoods, you could pay off a chunk of foreign debt; tax the other Ministers’ lies and you could pay the rest. Now they are drowning, and more lies come from a “captain of lies.”

¶ 03 However, there are a couple of good Ministers who work calmly. Hon. Minister, listen carefully. Many blame you; I do not. I say this: our leaders—J.R., Gamini Dissanayake, Premadasa—started the Mahaweli Project. Even today, part of our grid relies on Mahaweli benefits. You say the unit cost is about Rs. 2 or so; fine. But do not attack the very achievements of our leaders with the “76 years of curse” rhetoric. If today you can govern or provide 50% of electricity, it is due to Mahaweli hydropower. Please acknowledge it.

¶ 04 On solar: for those producing under 5,000 kW, the unit charge is Rs. 28; over 5,000 kW it is Rs. 23; up to 20 kW, Rs. 19. For homes, about Rs. 19 per unit on average, adjusted time to time. From 20–100 kW it is Rs. 17–18; from 100–500 kW around Rs. 15–19. Prices have fallen from Rs. 27 and Rs. 23 to Rs. 19 and Rs. 15. I know storage is hard; there are no batteries; solar is daytime only—there are issues. But you must focus on this. We pay about Rs. 60 per unit for hydropower in Sri Lanka—because of Mahaweli we yet pay that. India pays around Rs. 28. If we do not provide opportunities for production, what happens? You said you would reduce electricity bills by two-thirds. A Rs. 1,500 bill is now Rs. 5,500–6,000. People live with great difficulty; 25% are poor. You protested on the roads then; that fervour is gone. You took power with jealousy and anger. Farmers are innocent; do not insult them. If possible, give poor families a solar unit; they can get free power for years. Do something constructive.

¶ 05 We spend 75% on fuel; that is why energy prices are high—Rs. 60 per unit is unsustainable. I draw attention to the wind power tender. Information I received—may be wrong—says bidders for a 50 MW wind plant must have previously planned two 50 MW wind plants, and EPCs must have built at least one plant overseas. This excludes our local bidders. I do not allege without full technical knowledge, but such information is reported. As a result, locals could not participate.

¶ 06 On Adani’s 500 MW project: you say locals offered 50 MW at 3.50–4.00 US cents, but Adani came at 8.00 cents. Running a 500 MW system and its associated costs are far greater. I checked: initially, after 14 Cabinet discussions, the rate was 9.50 US cents, later reduced to 8.00 cents—about Rs. 23. You accept that the lowest end cost of production here is Rs. 23 per unit. With coal blending, etc., we can get to Rs. 23. If you can procure 500 MW including the transmission line for less, I challenge you—take two months and show it.

¶ 07 Globally, 500 MW elsewhere is not cheaper. In the Philippines it is 8 cents; in parts of Africa 13–14 cents. Adani says logistics drive costs: India can do 4 cents as the infrastructure exists; Sri Lanka lacks it. If Adani comes, Sri Lanka gets attention. Instead, the President talks of “little Hanuman” while the big Hanuman burned the temple—talking daily about drugs and underworld, not energy. We ask the President to learn from other international leaders and speak at the UN on how to bring energy to Sri Lanka and who can deliver 7.5–8.0 cents. With such support, we can fix our energy future.

¶ 08 On LTL, I lack time. They filed cases and then withdrew. My friend handled LTL’s case—now a Minister of yours. Please look into who withdrew the case. 1.11 has grabbed about 70%, running it with a remote. CEB engineers are paid, politicians outside are paid. How hard is it to work outside 1.11’s shadow? All tenders go to 1.11 with borrowed public money, and procurement rules have been bent. I have information that the “conflict of interest” clause disqualifying LTL from bidding was removed so insiders could bid. Please check this urgently. If you do not set this straight quickly, the people will throw you out within two years for deceiving them.

¶ 09 Thank you.