Minister of Energy Kanchana Wijesekera has issued a warning to the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) pertaining to the renewable energy generation plans.
In a Twitter message, the Minister said he will not take the CEB’s request to increase tariff rates to the Cabinet since the CEB does not assist the renewable energy generation plans.
Minister Wijesekera stressed that the CEB should allow renewable energy projects to proceed and reduce generation costs, rather than increasing tariffs to pay their own salaries.
The CEB has a collective agreement that every 3 years their own salaries are increased by 25%.
With no plans for renewable energy or cost reduction in the generation the high cost of salaries and generation costs are put on the consumers, he explained.
Minister Kanchana Wijesekera added that this has to change, adding “no better time to do it.”
Meanwhile, the CEB Engineers’ Union has announced that it will launch a trade union action with effect from midnight today (8).
The Union said the trade union action will be launched over several key demands, including the power-related projects that are to be taken up for debate in Parliament tomorrow (09). (NewsWire)