Wrong monetary, foreign exchange policies hinder fuel imports: PUCSL Chairman

The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) feels that the implementation of wrong monetary and foreign exchange policies by the responsible authorities has made it impossible to import adequate fuel to operate thermal power plants, PUCSL Chairman Janaka Ratnayake said.

While speaking to the media yesterday to announce the extension of the number of countrywide power outages to 7½ hours, which will be effective today, he stated that the responsible bodies, the government and the responsible political authorities have been informed in writing and orally as to how we should overcome the power crisis. But no response has been received as yet, he said.

Dearth of foreign exchange had hindered importing adequate fuel. However, this practice should be ended in the next couple of days.

The PUCSL informed the government that the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) should get sufficient fuel for next two months through the Ceylon Petrolium Corporation (CPC).

 Ratnayake further said the required financial provisions should be arranged by the treasury as well as the dollars equivalent to local currency should be provided by the central bank.

In order to counter this situation, Rs.150 million is needed to import the fuel required for the next two months. If the government is able to meet this within the next few days or within the next week, we can minimise this power cut. That will bring people's lives and businesses back to normal, he said.

"The Kerawalapitiya and Kelanitissa power plants are currently not operating due to fuel scarcity, and therefore the main grid has fallen short by 700 MW of power," he said. 

"Being able to operate with the limited fuel that is in hand, the number of hours of power cuts may be increased even beyond eight hours per day." The daily power interruption will be decided upon the fuel which was supplied in the previous days. If lesser volume of fuel is received, the duration of the power cuts will be extended, he said.

The obtaining emergency power from the plants outside is also not possible when there is an acute fuel scarcity. 

If the PUCSL is unable to receive any response from the responsible authorities, we will be looking forward to institute legal action in the next few days against them to seek the required funds, forex, and procedure to overcome this situation. We are not taking these actions against the government," Ratnayake further added. (Chaturanga Samarawickrama)