JVP vows to short circuit power bill
COLOMBO: The JVP Saturday vowed to disrupt parliamentary proceedings and even defeat the government if it presented the Sri Lanka Electricity Draft Bill in parliament for approval. The proposed Bill, to be taken up in Parliament on June 17 envisages doing away with the monopoly enjoyed by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and inviting the partnership of the private sector in power generation and distribution.
JVP Parliamentarian and trade union wing leader, K.D. Lalkantha told the media on Friday that the JVP was prepared to defeat the government if it made any attempts to present the draft Bill in parliament.
The JVP affiliated trade unions were to launch a strike on June 6 when the draft Bill was initially scheduled to be taken up in parliament. However, the strike was called off after the government decided to present the Bill to parliament on June 17.
Present laws permit the CEB to generate, transmit and distribute electricity and if the new Bill is passed, it would nullify the Electricity Reform Act No. 28 of 2002 and another law passed in 1950 upon which the CEB was established.
Lalkantha said that page 10 of the new draft bill has said that an institution could only be given one licence; either to transmit or to generate and distribute electricity. One institution could not be given more than one licence, he said, adding that Clause 62 of page 61 in the draft Bill states that once the new act is enforced, the CEB would be given a temporary licence for a period of six months by the commission to generate, transmit and distribute electricity. The commission mentioned in the clause is said to be the Public Utilities Commission, which Lalkantha said was formed to privatise electricity and water.
Lalkantha said that under the new law, CEB would lose its hold in the country's power sector and would only be involved in either the generation or distribution of power.
He added that the privatisation of electricity, which is an essential item to the country and its economy would be detrimental on the long run.
According to Lalkantha, the JVP would not hesitate to defeat the government's attempt to pass the Bill in parliament with the support of trade unions in the state and private sectors.
He also charged that with the increase in global fuel prices, the government would be compelled to increase electricity tariffs.
"The government is already contemplating increasing the electricity tariffs. However, the Power and Energy Minister has so far denied any such move. But the government would have to increase the tariffs if the oil prices increase any further. It is therefore evident that the government is trying to privatise the power sector so that it could save its skin and blame the private sector for any future tariff hikes," Lalkantha said.
.The JVP also charged that the proposed Bill is intended to promote Indian business interests in the country and claimed that the Bill comes in the wake of the agreement with India’s National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) to build a coal power plant in Sampoor.
Meanwhile, in a dramatic turn of events, JVP Propaganda Secretary Vijitha Herath said that the Marxist party is exploring legal action against the eviction of thousands of former Sampoor residents from their villages in order to build the coal power plant.
He said thousand of families, who were uprooted from their ancestral villages during military operations to capture the former enclave of the LTTE, “still live in a state of displacement.”
“These people still live in IDP camps in Vakarai and the government had not provided them with alternate land. Nor have they been compensated for the loss of property,” he said.
He said the government’s conduct was a total violation of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the country and international conventions. Herath alleged that the government had robbed the lands of Tamil and Muslim people who lived in Sampoor and “plans to sell it to India.”
A $500 million investment project for the Sampoor coal power plant is to be implemented by a joint venture company in which the NTPC and Ceylon Electricity Board would each hold a 50 per cent stake and would be funded with a debt equity ratio of 70:30.
SAMN
pathetic basteds
COLOMBO: The JVP Saturday vowed to disrupt parliamentary proceedings and even defeat the government if it presented the Sri Lanka Electricity Draft Bill in parliament for approval. The proposed Bill, to be taken up in Parliament on June 17 envisages doing away with the monopoly enjoyed by the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) and inviting the partnership of the private sector in power generation and distribution.
JVP Parliamentarian and trade union wing leader, K.D. Lalkantha told the media on Friday that the JVP was prepared to defeat the government if it made any attempts to present the draft Bill in parliament.
The JVP affiliated trade unions were to launch a strike on June 6 when the draft Bill was initially scheduled to be taken up in parliament. However, the strike was called off after the government decided to present the Bill to parliament on June 17.
Present laws permit the CEB to generate, transmit and distribute electricity and if the new Bill is passed, it would nullify the Electricity Reform Act No. 28 of 2002 and another law passed in 1950 upon which the CEB was established.
Lalkantha said that page 10 of the new draft bill has said that an institution could only be given one licence; either to transmit or to generate and distribute electricity. One institution could not be given more than one licence, he said, adding that Clause 62 of page 61 in the draft Bill states that once the new act is enforced, the CEB would be given a temporary licence for a period of six months by the commission to generate, transmit and distribute electricity. The commission mentioned in the clause is said to be the Public Utilities Commission, which Lalkantha said was formed to privatise electricity and water.
Lalkantha said that under the new law, CEB would lose its hold in the country's power sector and would only be involved in either the generation or distribution of power.
He added that the privatisation of electricity, which is an essential item to the country and its economy would be detrimental on the long run.
According to Lalkantha, the JVP would not hesitate to defeat the government's attempt to pass the Bill in parliament with the support of trade unions in the state and private sectors.
He also charged that with the increase in global fuel prices, the government would be compelled to increase electricity tariffs.
"The government is already contemplating increasing the electricity tariffs. However, the Power and Energy Minister has so far denied any such move. But the government would have to increase the tariffs if the oil prices increase any further. It is therefore evident that the government is trying to privatise the power sector so that it could save its skin and blame the private sector for any future tariff hikes," Lalkantha said.
.The JVP also charged that the proposed Bill is intended to promote Indian business interests in the country and claimed that the Bill comes in the wake of the agreement with India’s National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) to build a coal power plant in Sampoor.
Meanwhile, in a dramatic turn of events, JVP Propaganda Secretary Vijitha Herath said that the Marxist party is exploring legal action against the eviction of thousands of former Sampoor residents from their villages in order to build the coal power plant.
He said thousand of families, who were uprooted from their ancestral villages during military operations to capture the former enclave of the LTTE, “still live in a state of displacement.”
“These people still live in IDP camps in Vakarai and the government had not provided them with alternate land. Nor have they been compensated for the loss of property,” he said.
He said the government’s conduct was a total violation of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the country and international conventions. Herath alleged that the government had robbed the lands of Tamil and Muslim people who lived in Sampoor and “plans to sell it to India.”
A $500 million investment project for the Sampoor coal power plant is to be implemented by a joint venture company in which the NTPC and Ceylon Electricity Board would each hold a 50 per cent stake and would be funded with a debt equity ratio of 70:30.
SAMN
pathetic basteds
