FTZs say “No” to 2-hr power cuts
View(s):Investors have asked authorities to not impose a two hour electricity disruption in the Free Trade Zones (FTZs) that could adversely impact meeting export targets requiring uninterrupted electricity supply.
The Free Trade Zone Manufacturers Association (FTZMA) in a letter dated January 28, to Power and Energy Minister Gamini Lokuge stated that the proposed two hour power outage in FTZs in the island is a rising concern of foreign investors.
“Because of these power cuts, very tragic effects could be noticed soon on the lifeline of the back bone of the country’s economy as it would result in hampering the country’s exports. This power outage is seemingly a very tedious task to cope up by plants who are unable to invest on power generators,” the letter said adding that not all companies were able to afford using “standby generators” and those who could would have their costs of production increase thereby making them uncompetitive in the export markets.
Some of the major impacting areas are timely processing, producing and delivering of goods in line with the deadlines set by international buyers and also affecting the functioning of most manufacturing plants that require an uninterrupted electricity connection in order to run their plants day and night, the letter said.
They also noted that an uninterrupted power supply was an integral part of infrastructure committed by the government to the foreign investors in the country as per the agreement signed with the BOI.
Meanwhile the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) is just managing its supply of fuel to run the country’s thermal power plants and plans to adopt a controlled system of fuel to the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), with the intention of saving existing stocks until they get dollars for oil imports, official sources said.
At present the CPC is compelled to supply fuel in packages sufficient for a day or three days to the CEB.
This was similar to reloading of mobile phones; a CEB top official said adding that this system will not help in preventing power cuts in the near future.
By March, the CEB is gearing up for releasing power supply schedules which will result in millions of losses to the country and people depending on electricity only for limited hours, sources said.
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