9 June 2022 08:38 am
The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) unions are misusing their privileges, as power outages enveloped several areas of the country and it can be considered as a sabotage, Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) Chairman Janaka Rathnayake said.
He told the Daily Mirror that the unions are free to engage in any kind of trade union action or strike without causing inconvenience to the general public.
The CEB bears the responsibility to provide a continual uninterrupted power supply, provided power is in the grids and as per the mandate.
As a result, the PUCSL agreed with the union action but not in the manner in which it was handled, he said.
However, the power outage was not due to following the verbal instructions to connect the sub grids to the main grid during the off peak. Due to less power supply in several areas and being unable to manage the load balancing system, the power went off.
Certain power plants, including coal-powered power plants, are operating and no instructions were given to connect the electricity to the national grid even though some mini and major hydro-power plants such as Laxapana, Canyon, Wimalasurendra and Polpitiya were isolated.
The PUCSL requested the public and electricity consumers to remain calm until the situation is normalised in due course, the Chairman said. (Chaturanga Samarawickrama)