The Government has decided to appoint a committee to solve the problem of not being able to provide electricity from the main transmission system of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) to the entire Southern Province due to the difficulty of drawing power lines over a private tea estate.
This decision was reached during a discussion chaired by the President’s Chief of Staff Sagala Ratnayaka.
It has been proposed to draw a 220-kilowatt power cable from Polpitiya to Hambantota to connect the Southern Province to the main transmission system of the CEB.
It was revealed that although this project was started with a loan from the Asian Development Bank, it has not been possible to complete it due to the difficulty of drawing the transmission line over a distance of 600 metres through the middle of a private tea estate as the approval of the owner of the land is needed.
According to the Government’s assessment, Rs.1.6 million has been recommended to draw the transmission line over the private land, but the tea estate owner has changed this amount and demanded Rs. 9.6 million, and the work has been delayed.
Therefore, the President’s Chief of Staff Sagala Ratnayaka has ordered the Public Utilities Commission to appoint a committee in accordance with the instructions given by President Ranil Wickremesinghe to provide an assessment to an independent assessor and to coordinate the work and resolve the problem.
Electricity is supplied to five districts including the Southern Province from the hydroelectricity generated by the Samanalawewa reservoir. CEB officials have informed the Government that if Samanalawewa dries up, power cuts will be enforced for many hours in the Southern Province.