Govt. to appoint more non-Cabinet and state ministers

By Kelum Bandara 

The government is expected to make changes to the Cabinet by appointing a few more non- Cabinet and state ministers.   

He told parliament that the government did not have a national policy to meet the electricity demand of the country.  

“We will have to face serious power shortages in the coming days if this drought situation continues. But the government has no plan to face this situation,” the MP said.  
He said Secretary of the power and energy ministry was responsible for this power crisis as he did not approve tenders to generate solar energy and mini-hydro power plants.  
“The secretary wants to give contracts to large-scale companies and earn huge commissions. This ministry secretary wins over all the ministers appointed to the ministry. He gave 4,000 jobs to the former minister to be distributed among his supporters. Now he is giving choppers to the current minister to roam round the country. The ministry is doing as he wants,” the MP said.  

He said 50 one-MW generators were imported by the government at a cost of Rs.90 million last year but only two of them were in operation.  

“All the other 48 generators have been put aside,” he said.   Non-cabinet minister Harsha De Silva rejected the allegation saying 16 generators have been fixed. “Five generators have been installed in Thulhiriya, another 20 in Kolonnawa,” he said.  

JVP MP Nalinda Jayatissa, said the due procedure had not been followed when importing these generators and that 12 installed generators had stopped working.  
“They are not suited to function in Sri Lanka. The machines had not been imported according to the condition of the tender. There has been a huge financial scam behind this deal. Ministry Secretary, former General Manager and former Deputy General Manager should be responsible for this,” he said. 

We will have to face serious power shortages in the coming days if this  drought situation continues