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Urgent
meeting on fuel crisis A round table discussion is to be held tomorrow under the leadership of Power and Energy Minister Susil Premajayantha with state agencies and the media on the escalating oil prices and the steps the government would need to take in the future.The Ministry expects rapid increases in oil prices in the near future. Transport Ministry Secretary D. S. Jayaweera who will be one of the participants said he would brief the gathering on fuel consumption in the transport sector. He said statistics showed that Colombo and Gampaha districts consumed about 51 per cent of the country's fuel imports. It is expected the price of a barrel of oil might go up to as much as 70-75 US dollars by the end of the year, he said. Dr. Jayaweera said the government would address fuel efficiency problems in vehicles and the possibility of giving incentives. He said the ideal vehicle fuel consumption should be between 16 and 20 kilometers per litre. The public transport system would also have to be improved. The meeting is organized by the Strategic Enterprise Management Agency (SEMA). A spokesman for SEMA said their aim was to increase public awarenss on the need to conserve energy and if a five percent reduction was made by each citizen, there would be a tremendous impact on the economy. The SEMA spokesman said if the price of a barrel of oil shot up it would set off a chain reaction and send inflation skyrocketing. Meanwhile, the Asian Development Bank has warned the government that it will not release a US dollars 30 million loan for the energy sector if the government does not keep to the agreement of restructuring the CEB. |
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