Ask the Minister: Matters of Public Interest 

A chat with Ajith P. Perera, Deputy Minister of Power & Renewable Energy 

Some of our readers will be very interested in getting to know the progress of the present government and the future plans of the Ministers. With the endeavour of creating awareness in this regard, Life Online met up with some Ministers and asked them a few questions. Their answers will be carried in this weekly column. This week, we speak to Ajith P. Perera, Deputy Minister of Power & Renewable Energy. 

As a Minister who is very vocal and active in the Good Governance process, what would you say about the present situation? Are things happening the way you expected it to happen? 

I am happy about the progress of the Yahapalanaya Government. Irregularities that have been happening in the past are being corrected. The rule of law after implementing the 19th amendment is going through well. Today we have an Independent Judiciary and an Independent Police. High standard of training for personnel in the Police is happening now. We are establishing and strengthening the function of the Auditor General’s Commission. There are a few obstacles we are facing in activating the Right to Information Bill which we are working on presently. 

What I’m not too happy about is the speed in which the development is taking place. However we have managed to lay the foundation required for the necessary development. So although things are not yet visible to people right now, we have laid the path for long term development at ground level. 

What would you say is the main goal of your Ministry? 

By 2050, power generation for the whole country will be through renewable energy using  hydro, solar and wind power. That is our National policy and we hope to achieve this target. Hydro, we have used to the maximum. Moving into other renewable energy such as wind and solar is absolutely essential as people need to have electricity at all times whether it rains or not. We need some amount of fossil energy also, so for that we will use Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). This is the most environmental friendly source of fossil energy. We called in tenders for the first LNG power plant in Kerawalpitiya. Even the present diesel plant we will be turned into an LMG plant. 

You said some time ago that electricity tariffs will not be increased. Is this still your stand? 

We are taking measures to prevent a price hike of the electricity tariffs. Even though the price of petroleum or coal goes up we need to maintain the tariffs as it is. Hence we are looking into solar power and wind power. The cost per unit from solar and wind power is very low compared to coal power. For the first time, after Yahapalanaya came into power, we made a decision that suppliers will have to tender for renewable energy. Previously the licenses for solar and wind were issued only to relations and friends of the then politicians. We called the first tender for wind power in May last year and were able to bring the unit price down from Rs. 19 to Rs. 12. By mid-February we will be setting up 60 power stations. 

Has the ‘Semata Viduliya’ programme been successful? 

We have spent 5 billion rupees and supplied electricity to applicants without any cost through this programme. We have given power to everyone possible. There are only 17,000 households in very remote areas that have not got electricity.  At certain instances the government even spent Rs. 340,000 per household, in order to supply electricity to consumers. Like this we supplied electricity to 255,000 consumers by December 2015. Previously what was there was only access to power for the village. However we have even spent on internal wiring for the people who could not afford it and did ensure that they got 100% real power right in to their houses. 

What is the present status with the Norochcholai power plant? 

Norochcholai comprises of three power plants and supplies power to 1/3 of the country’s demand. The first one is a mismatch to the industry standards of Sri Lanka’s power grid. There are some technical issues with this power plant. For example, if there is a power failure, a forced shut down has to be executed. And thereafter to get it restarted it takes a few days. This is a huge problem for the country. The other problem was, there were instances where there was a shortage of coal and the machines had to be shut down due to the lack of coal. That too was a huge loss for the nation. Now that problem has been solved. At present, there is no shortage and the coal availability is 100%. 

There was an allegation of irregularity regarding the tender process of purchasing of coal for the Norochcholai power plant. Can you enlighten us in brief, of the correct facts of this matter? 

There was only one company that supplied coal to the power plant from the time it started until 2015. This company manipulated the system and held the monopoly all those years. After we came into power, we did not want to have just one company monopolising the supplying of coal, so we decided to call in tenders for coal for the first time. 

That’s when the problem started. With the process Tender process, this particular company was removed from the monopoly. They filed a case and said that the tender has not been evaluated properly. Then the Supreme Court stated that this particular company, had no right to even tender for coal as they were not a company registered in Sri Lanka, and the petition was dismissed. 

The Supreme Court did state that there has been a procedural error when evaluating the tender, by the tender committee, but at no stage did the Supreme Court state that there was any corruption or fraud that had taken place regarding this tender. It was stated that it could be terminated - IF REQUIRED. So the cabinet decided not to terminate it but to proceed with it as there was absolutely no allegation of fraud or corruption regarding this tender. 

This is the only instant where there was an issue regarding the purchasing of coal. Since then there have been many tenders coming in and the process has been going on without any party petitioning. At present, there are 18 organisations registered to tender for coal. 

How do you propose to solve the manpower issues? 

Previously Electricity Board got manpower through private organisations on contract basis or for the work that need to be done. This was more beneficial to the company as there is no EPF, ETF etc to be paid to workers. The middle man - the company which supplies the manpower, benefitted by this system as they charge the CEB a big amount but pay the workers a paltry sum. Our government is totally against this manpower policy. We believe that if a person is working anywhere he should be entitled to have labour rights such as EPF and ETF, leave, medical and all other facilities. 

When we came into power we made a promise that the CEB workers will be made permanent. Accordingly we made 6300 workers permanent. That is 25% of the workforce of the CEB. 

If one wants to install solar power, what is the process? 

There are about 150 registered companies in the private sector who install solar panels depending on your requirement and budget. Of course you should check prices from a couple of places and see who gives the best deal. There is also a website of the Sustainable Energy Authority which has all the information you need and will guide you regarding the process. To encourage consumers to generate Solar power LECO will be giving loans at very low interest for rooftop panels. Guarantors are not required for this loan. After utilizing the power required for your personal consumption, the extra can be given to the National Grid and the consumer gets a return of Rs. 22 per unit. 

Did you know? 

• He is a former student of Ananda College. 
• Besides being a leading Counsel in Civil and Criminal jurisdictions, he has also obtained a Bachelor of Science Degree at the Faculty of Applied Science in the University of Sri Jayawardenapura. 
• He is married to Nadeeka, a school teacher and has two sons and a daughter currently engaged in secondary and higher education. 
• His ability to articulate complex political issues has made him a popular and regular panelist in political debates in local media.