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CEB wants police to probe alleged sabotage by strikers
The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has asked police to investigate alleged acts of sabotage it claims being committed by striking CEB workers, to disrupt power supply.
Tense situation in Aluthgamakanda, Matugama: Police had to intervene after residents surrounded the local CEB station allegeing act of sabotage resulted in power failure in the area. Pic by Ratnasiri Premala
Several such incidents were reported during this week, after a group of CEB trade unions launched a continuous countrywide strike. Police complaints have already been lodged over two suspected acts of sabotage in Piliyandala and Beliatte, Director (Development)- Ministry of Power and Renewable Energy and CEB Spokesman Sulakshana Jayawardena told the Sunday Times yesterday. Attempts to damage transformers had also been reported from Kuliyapitiya and Eheliyagoda.
In a statement on Friday, Power and Renewable Energy Minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya accused CEB unions of attempting a forced withdrawal of CEB staff stationed at the National Hospital, ignoring the pleas of the doctors.
One major incident of alleged sabotage was reported from Aluthgamakanda in Matugama on Friday. Area residents claimed, a CEB worker was seen removing a piece of equipment from a transformer, resulting in a power outage affecting the entire area. Residents had subsequently surrounded the local CEB station and demanded that workers restore power. Police had to intervene to calm the situation and CEB workers had later restored the power, they said.
Meanwhile, the Ministry said about 30% of CEB’s casual workers and those under probation had returned to work by Friday (15), after the Ministry announced they would be treated as having vacated posts, if they failed to report for duty. An earlier deadline called for the workers to report to work before 8.30 am on Friday (15). CEB Chairman W.B. Ganegala however, said the Board would give at least , until Monday (18) or, even beyond that, for workers to return to work.
The countrywide strike launched by the CEB Joint Trade Union Alliance entered its fourth day yesterday. What initially began as a 48-hour token strike at 12 noon on Wednesday (13), spiraled into a continuous one, when talks between trade union representatives and the Govt collapsed on Thursday.
The Govt meanwhile, termed the strike a failure. Minister Siyambalapitiya claimed both power generation and transmission were operating at 100%, while power distribution was at 65%.
Power outages however, were reported from many parts of the island. CEB officials admitted there were prolonged delays in repairing power breakdowns due to lack of manpower. Leave for all CEB workers was canceled from Sept.13-20 on the eve of the strike, but most employees still failed to turn up for work.
Unions say a vast majority of the CEB’s 23,000 workforce was on strike.
Mr Jayawardena insisted breakdowns were being repaired as quickly as possible, despite the difficulties. Major breakdowns had been reported from Kuruvita, Hingurakgoda, Dharga Town and Ahangama by Friday. Most of the other breakdowns were minor.
The Ministry also requested Field Technical Officers and Drivers who had retired from service after Sept.1, 2014, to immediately report to work.
H.M.K. Boteju, Secretary of the Viduli Podu Sevaka Sangamaya, one of the unions taking part in the strike, denied that unions were systematically engaged in acts of sabotage. He however, said individual workers may be involved in certain acts, though the unions would never condone such behaviour. “If we wanted to sabotage the national grid, we could have done so before we commenced the strike,” he claimed.
The key demand of the striking workers is for the Govt to immediately rectify existing salary anomalies between CEB executive grade officers and other employees.
Mr Boteju said the crisis stemmed from an “illegal circular” issued by then CEB General Manager on Jan.8, 2015, that disproportionately increased salaries of CEB engineers and those at the Board’s management level. The circular, Mr Boteju said, was never approved by the subject Ministry, Cabinet, Wages Board or the Treasury.
“For the past 2 1/2 years, the existence of this circular has resulted in the misappropriation of millions of rupees in public funds by way of salary increases for some 1,200 executive level CEB employees,” he charged.
While acknowledging there was a salary anomaly issue, Deputy Minister of Power and Renewable Energy, Ajith P. Perera claimed it required a permanent solution that would take time to implement. “You can’t simply insert an immediate fix to a problem like this. The CEB is a vast organization. That is why we presented a set of proposals and asked the unions to give their views on them.”
Deputy Minister Perera also said the circular in question had been approved by the CEB’s then Director Board, and four cases filed against it were still pending in court. “It’s the trade unions themselves who have filed action against the circular,” he said, adding that the Govt’s decision on the circular would be based on the court’s judgment.