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Rumours cause fresh CEB crisis
Monday, 11 July 2005 - 8:34 AM SL Time
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A fresh crisis is brewing at the Ceylon Electricity Board following rumours allegedly spread by the JVP-led trade unions that clandestine moves were underway by the Government to submit a fresh proposal to the Cabinet for approval on restructuring the CEB sans trade union consensus.
However Ministry officials gave an assurance that there were no such secret moves and noted that the new paper would be submitted to the Cabinet only when a consensus was reached between all stakeholders, including trade unions.
The JVP union, the Lanka Viduli Sevaka Sangamaya is alleged to have set off the rumours on Wednesday morning, charging that Power and Energy Minister Susil Premajayantha was going to present a Cabinet Paper seeking approval to restructure the CEB at the meeting held that night, however no such paper was presented, officials said.
Minister Susil Premajayantha last month appointed a 13-member committee headed by the Ministry`s Additional Secretary Wimal Dissanayake to obtain the views of the trade unions and come up with an acceptable plan to restructure the crisis-ridden CEB.
The committee which had been having a marathon round of discussions over the last few weeks continued its deliberations behind closed doors, in a bid to reach a final agreement and to speed up the restructuring process.
However, CEB trade unions were also having a special meeting at the time the Ministerial committee was meeting. The unions led by Trade Union Collective Convenor Ananda Nimalaratne vowed to launch an all out strike if the Government went ahead with any secret move to restructure the Board.
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