Lanka loses huge grant for CEB

By Shelani Perera

The Asian Development Bank which was to give a Rs. 3,000 million (30 million US dollar) grant to salvage the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) from a financial crisis has withdrawn the offer following the failure to pass the CEB Reforms Bill in Parliament.

Power and Energy Minister John Seneviratne told The Sunday Times the ADB extended the time period on two occasions but following the Supreme Court verdict that a two thirds majority was needed to pass the Bill, the grant was withdrawn.

‘We can’t go against the Court verdict, after all the ADB gave us two chances, this grant would have helped us to sort out the CEB financial crisis to some extent. The money was to be channelled to implement the CEB reforms, but that was prevented by the JVP and its trade unions” the minister said. The ADB had wanted the government to get the reforms passed in Parliament. But with the JVP opposing the Bill the Government withdrew it, fearing that it would be defeated.

The JVP opposed the Reforms Bill, claiming that certain clauses laid the foundation for a long-term privatization plan.

Minister Seneviratne said that with the ADB withdrawal the Government was now looking at reorganizing the CEB, by allotting more power to heads of different units, and other internal methods. As a result of the failure to obtain ADB assistance, the CEB has been forced to alter its plan and abandon certain projects, he said.