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Sparks fly as pandemic-hit people now suffer power cut woes
Long rolling power cuts are crippling businesses, disrupting education and affecting the daily activities of people who seem to ask “Is there light at the end of the tunnel?”
People lament that power cuts are hitting them hard while they are struggling to cope with heaps of difficulties during the current pandemic period.
Adding to their woes is uncertainty regarding the power cut schedule.
All in the dark: Small businesses hit badly by the power cuts. Pix by Eshan Fernando
Software engineer Samith Perera said he and his wife were forced to stay out in the garden together with their new born child as the heat inside their Moratuwa house during the power outage was unbearable especially for the child.
He said the prolonged power cut had also affected his office work which he was doing from home. He said he had a power bank that required 12 hours of uninterrupted charging but he was unable to charge the device 100 percent due to multiple power cuts within a day.
Expressing frustration, schoolchildren and university students said their studies had been disrupted as a result of day and night power cuts. Daytime power outages cut them off from online classes, while night power cuts are a hindrance to their studies and homework.
Advanced level student Chiran Dulaksha said he could not attend online classes and prepare for the ongoing exams as the Wi-Fi router did not work without electricity.
Also being squeezed by power cuts are small time businesses which are struggling to stay afloat after they had suffered losses during the lockdown period.
G.A. Indararatne, who runs an electrical item repair shop, said he now had to find money to spend on a generator and fuel.
“I repair electric items. To operate my tools, I need electricity. There is a pile of items to be repaired. Therefore, I cannot wait until power is restored,” he said explaining why he was forced to buy a generator.
He also said he could see the disappointment in the face of his children when the batteries of their phones run out in the middle of their online classes.
He said his eldest son who was looking for a job could not attend a scheduled online interview because of an unannounced power cut.
Eatery owners complain they also are suffering huge losses. Not only are they unable to use electric ovens and refrigerators, but they also have to throw away refrigerated items such as ice cream and meat products due to long power cuts.
Housewife and small time entrepreneur Shriyani Chandrakanthi from Wakawella in Galle said she stopped her chocolate pudding business because she was unable to keep them under refrigerated conditions during power outages.
Also taking a beating is the tourism industry which the government is desperately trying to promote to earn the much needed foreign currency.
Tourist hotel operators said their guests were highly inconvenienced during power cuts.
Air-conditioned rooms, hot baths, electric door locks, lights do not operate without electricity. Some tourists who pre-booked hotels online claim they are cheated when the facilities mentioned in the hotel websites are not provided.
Prassanna Wimalasuriya, who runs a hotel at Ella, said tourists were giving bad reviews of his hotel as he was unable to provide uninterrupted Wi-Fi connections due to power cuts.
“Foreigners started to come to Sri Lanka after the pandemic restrictions were relaxed. If the Government is serious about earning foreign exchange from tourism, then it should ensure that there is uninterrupted power supply in popular tourist areas,” he said.
Mr. Wimalasuriya said that to overcome the problem, he bought a generator but decided not to charge more from his guests to cover the cost.
Dhananjaya Dias runs a 12-room hotel in Hikkaduwa. He said he feared something untoward could happen to his guests during power cuts and he was not prepared to take that risk. “If anything happens, I will be held responsible.”
“The foreign guests who are here did not know of power cuts when they booked the hotels. I had to return 50 percent of the money to my guests as they were inconvenienced by the power failure. I have to even close my restaurant because I could not operate them during power cuts,” he said.
When asked about the inconveniences the power cuts caused to local and foreigners, a senior Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) official said they had no intention to put people in difficulties but they were compelled to enforce power cuts due to the lack of foreign exchange to buy the fuel needed to run power plants.
The problem should be solved by the Government, not the CEB, he said, adding that the utility could provide uninterrupted power supply only if there was uninterrupted supply of fuel.
Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) Chairman Janaka Ratnayake told the Sunday Times he had pointed out the urgent need to obtain fuel to provide uninterrupted electricity.
He also said the commission had urged the CEB to try to avoid night time and weekend power cuts. (See box story)
When asked for her comments, the Power Ministry Secretary said she was unable to do so, as she was at a meeting.
| PUCSL chief: It is not power crisis, but fuel and forex crisis Public Utilities Commission Chairman Janaka Ratnayake told the Sunday Times that there was no power shortage in the country but a shortage of foreign currency to buy diesel, naphtha and furnace oil. He said he had repeatedly requested the CEB and the political authorities to ensure the continuous supply of fuel to avert power cuts. “We have the capability and the capacity to produce the country’s electricity requirement, but currently we face a forex shortage that has resulted in a shortage of fuel,” he said.
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| IUSF says students preparing for exams studying in the darkThe Inter University Student’s Federation (IUSF) called on the authorities to revise the power cut schedule in such a way it would not affect university students and the schoolchildren preparing for exams. IUSF Convener Wasantha Mudalige said education had now become electricity dependent due to the pandemic situation, with lectures and even exams being held online. Therefore, education activities of schoolchildren and university students should not be disrupted by power cuts, he said. He claimed that there were no power cuts in areas where ministerial and VIP residences were located while Wayamba University students who were preparing for next week’s exams were forced to study in the dark.
Electricity Consumers Association pooh poohs CEB claims of no discrimination Public complaints are flowing in over the discriminatory manner in which power cuts are enforced. The Electricity Consumers Association alleged that some areas had been left out of the power cut schedule due to political influence. A consumer rights group said they had brought up the matter with the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka and the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB). A senior CEB official said that CEB was only providing uninterrupted power supplies to hospitals and as a result houses which were connected to the same feeder line also benefited. However, the rights group claimed that the explanation was not acceptable as most hospitals had its own generators and some of the areas excluded in the power cuts had no hospitals in the area. Meanwhile the Power Ministry said people could complain if certain areas were excluded from the power cuts through a hotline. However some of those who called said they were discouraged from complaining as they were asked to give their electricity account number or download the CEB care app which also requires the account number. Many had refrained from lodging complaints as they fear that their identity would be revealed.
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