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Harry J to resign?
Speculation is rife that Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) Chairman Harry Jayawardane is to resign from his post today following a fresh dispute that arose with Petroleum Minister Susil Premajayantha over the supply of fuel to the Ceylon Electricity Board(CEB), informed sources said yesterday.
It is learnt that the Minister has been angered by a recent decision taken by Mr. Jayawardane in the supply of fuel to the CEB for power generation through the Kerawalapitiya plant.
As a result, the Minister has reportedly complained to President Mahinda Rajapaksa against the CPC chairman. Also, at a meeting with trade union leaders yesterday, Mr. Premajayantha said that there would be changes in the top posts of the CPC very soon.
The CPC has been run at a loss for years. Its total losses had accumulated to Rs.27.21 billion by the middle of the last year. Corruption, mismanagement, overstaffing have been cited as the reasons for such losses. Besides, the CPC provides fuel to various state institutions at a subsidised rate, and it too has added to the total losses of the institution.
The CPC also incurred heavy losses due to the import of 20,000 tonns of petrol of inferior quality last year through the involvement of some top officials of the Ministry. The institution is still in the process of paying compensations to the owners of vehicles damaged due to the use of such substandard petrol. Equipment at filling stations was also damaged after the use of petrol from this stock.
(Kelum Bandara)
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