Power sector regulator Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) has given permission for scheduled power cuts lasting seven and a half hours tomorrow (2).
The PUCSL had been compelled to grant the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) permission to impose the power cuts as the Central Bank and Treasury have not responded to a request made by the regulator to release Rs 150 million for the CEB to import fuel needed for power plants.
Accordingly, there will be a five hour power cut between 8.00am and 6.00pm while a further two and a half hour power cut will be in effect between 6.00pm and 11.00pm.
During a press conference held this evening to announce the power cuts, PUCSL Chairman Janaka Ratnayake described it as "a dark day" where people have been deprived of their right to electricity for seven and a half hours.
He stressed that the current situation was not a power crisis but a financial and foreign exchange crisis that has disrupted the supply of electricity.
It was unfortunate that despite even the President instructing the Central Bank and Treasury to provide the CEB funds to purchase fuel for its power plants, these instructions had not been carried out up to now, he further said.
The death toll in the Ella bus accident has increased to 15 with 16 others injured.
Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa is due to vacate his official residence at Wijerama Mawatha, Colombo this morning, a Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) source said.
Sri Lanka’s largest renewable energy project, the ‘Rvidanavi’ Solar Power Park project was launched in Siyambalanduwa today by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
The Presidents’ Entitlements (Repeal) Bill was passed by a majority of 150 in parliament today. However the opposition MP’s were absent during the voting.
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