CEB spokesman’s resignation sheds light on bad PR

The Ceylon Electricity Board’s (CEB) already battered reputation took another serious hit this week of its own making, after its "spokesperson,” Noel Priyantha’s comments during a live discussion on a private television channel.

Mr. Priyantha’s tirade came when he was asked to comment on the recent tragedy where a father of two children died from electrocution while trying to obtain electricity from a neighbouring house. He had been burdened by financial difficulties and had fallen behind on his electricity bill payments, leading the CEB to disconnect electricity from the house. The distraught father had been forced to obtain electricity from a neighbouring house so that his school-going children could study. This ultimately led to the tragedy.

Mr. Priyantha refused to accept any responsibility by the CEB for the tragedy, instead telling the interviewer there was no reason the victim's children could not have studied using an oil lamp. “Ask the doctors, professors, and other professionals in their 50s and 60s if they had electricity when they were growing up. People should know how to reach their goal using the tools they have,” he said. He also alleged that the victim was “probably into drinking” and claimed those who lived on the plantations were “always drunk” by 2.00 pm.

The comments clearly lacked empathy or even basic professionalism. They immediately caused a firestorm of criticism on social media

The comments clearly lacked empathy or even basic professionalism. They immediately caused a firestorm of criticism on social media. Even government ministers weighed in, with State Minister and Ceylon Workers’ Congress General Secretary Jeevan Thondaman saying on X (formerly Twitter) that the statement was unacceptable. Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara also responded on X, saying the comments did not reflect the views of the government or the CEB.

Amid the criticism, Mr. Priyantha wrote to the CEB Chairman, stepping down as the board’s spokesman. The role of CEB spokesman, however, is simply an additional role with no remuneration. Mr. Priyantha will continue his usual role as Deputy General Manager (Business & Strategy).

What’s worse, Mr. Priyantha’s “resignation letter,” seen by the Sunday Times, neither accepts responsibility for his actions nor extends a proper apology for the damage he caused. He does apologise for “any type of mistake” that may have occurred while speaking to the media, especially during live TV programmes. However, the official attributes his decision to resign to being “continuously disturbed during 24 hours especially in night times,” owing to media queries. He has also claimed his daughter, who is sitting for the GCE Advanced Level examination, also complained that he should reduce his frequent communications with the media.

While Minister Wijesekara claimed on X that the former spokesman had tendered a public apology, this is far from the truth. In essence, Mr. Priyantha has neither accepted responsibility for his public utterances nor been held accountable for them. He continues to serve in his CEB post, now away from the public eye.