Power crisis: I will not let this pass over to another Power and Energy Minister, says Ravi
As the country grapples with a severe power crisis, Power, Energy and Business Development Minister Ravi Karunanayake pledged in Parliament on Friday (29) to provide a “permanent solution” to the crisis before Vesak Full Moon Poya Day in May, and assured that there will be no power cuts during the Sinhala and Tamil New Year.
Speaking during the Committee Stage debate on the Head of Expenditure of his Ministry, Mr Karunanayake took full responsibility for the crisis. “There is no point in having a blame game. This thing must stop now,” he said. He pointed out that only 87 days had lapsed since he took over as Power and Energy Minister, but everyone was pointing fingers at him. Nevertheless, he insisted that he, along with his Ministry and Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) officials, will provide a permanent solution to the crisis. “I will not let this pass over to another Power and Energy Minister,” he stressed.
Explaining reasons for the current power crisis, the Minister revealed that the power generation capacity had fallen from 4200 Megawatts (MW) to just 1950MW due to the reduction of water levels of the main hydropower reservoirs. There were also problems at the Lakvijaya coal power plant, while matters were compounded by the worsening dispute between the CEB and the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL).
While the daily power requirement had risen to 2300MW, power generation capacity had dropped to 1950MW. The Minister noted that they were currently facing a unique problem where power generation between 6.30 a.m.-8.30 a.m. and 6.30 p.m.-9 p.m. has stalled. He noted that they could not obtain water to generate hydropower even from the Randenigala reservoir, which is currently at 91% capacity, because the water was needed for drinking and agricultural purposes.
Mr Karunanayake defended his officials, stating that they were working to the best of their ability. He claimed that 60% of the problem is due to the inability to take proper political decisions at the correct time.
The Minister also took aim at an unnamed Cabinet colleague who he said had gone to the Commission of Inquiry (investigating fraud and corruption) and complained against his officials over emergency power purchases. “Where is our unity if our own Cabinet colleagues are acting this way?” he queried.
Many Opposition MPs who spoke, while acknowledging that it was unfair to blame Mr Karunanayake alone for the entire crisis, emphasised that the Government must take responsibility for the inability to provide uninterrupted power to the people.
Opening the debate, United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) MP Mahindananda Aluthgamage said that compared to the Government of Mahinda Rajapaksa, the current Government had no vision for the power sector and charged that it had failed to add even 1MW to the national grid.
He said the current power cuts were an organised effort by a “bureaucratic mafia” of officials within the Ministry and CEB to engage in corruption through shady emergency power purchase deals. Adding that this mafia was at work even during their own Government, Mr Aluthgamage urged the Government not to let them take the upper hand.
National Freedom Front (NFF) Leader Wimal Weerawansa said 590 applications to produce solar power, which would add a combined 1480MW to the national grid, were languishing at the Ministry of Power and Energy without being approved. He accused the Ministry Secretary of deliberately obstructing renewable energy producers to facilitate the purchase of emergency power through corrupt deals.
Indeed, Opposition MPs drew attention to a number of questionable emergency power purchase agreements in the recent past. Both UPFA MP Mahindananda Aluthgamage and Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) MP Dr Nalinda Jayathissa pointed to the recent multi-million rupee acquisition of 50 diesel generators, each providing 1MW of power. The purchase of the generators had been plagued by allegations of tender malpractice and though only brought down to the country in December, last year, just two out of the 50 generators are still working, they noted.
Dr Jayathissa revealed many of the equipment that were needed for the generators had not been imported while the generators themselves were found to be unsuitable for Sri Lanka, with most ceasing to function by the end of January.
The JVP MP held CEB and Ministry officials directly responsible for the fraud. “A former CEB general manager, a former additional general manager and the ministry secretary are responsible,” he alleged.
The allegations prompted UNP MP S.M. Marikkar to urge Parliament’s Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) to conduct an urgent inquiry into the allegations and summon officials involved.