Northern Jaffna peninsula to be fully connected to national grid power
View(s):Sri Lanka’s northern Jaffna peninsula will be connected to the national grid by end of this year, a senior official of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) said.
Priyantha Gunesekara, General Manager, CEB-Northern Province, told a business forum held to coincide with the Jaffna International Trade Fair 2013 held recently in Jaffna that peak power demand in the northern province was as follows; Jaffna – 40.5 Mega Watts, Kilinochchi – 2.4 MW, Mullaitivu – 2.3 MW, Vavuniya – 11.3 MW and Mannar – 5.6 MW. Grid Substations in Vavuniya, Kilinochchi are available and Chunnakam is planned to complete by 2013 and Mannar by 2016.
He said that even though 17 MW is contributed from hydro power, the CEB cannot cater to all these loads. This would be sorted out, when the CEB’s 24 MW project is commissioned in February 2013.
According to the Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Sri Lanka (FCCISL), the 4th edition of the Jaffna Trade Fair, organized by the LECS and FCCISL, successfully concluded at the Durayappah Stadium.
JITF is a platform for all the stakeholders of “doing business in Jaffna” to exhibit and sell products and services to a less exposed market, build network and new partnerships.
The business forum saw presentations by V. Sivagnanasothy, Secretary, Ministry of Traditional Industries and Small Enterprises on ‘Role of the Ministry to Protect in Traditional and Small Enterprises’; Mr Gunesekara, on ‘Enhancing the Quality of Energy Services in the north’ and Tushara Jayaratne, Asst. Director, External Relations and Market Development, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on ‘Invest in Stock Market’.
The audience of the forum comprised a trade delegation from Tamil Nadu, SMEs, entrepreneurs, traders, investors and visitors. The forum was an opportunity to interact with different stakeholders, according to an FCCISL statement.
Mr. Sivagnanasothy explained how the ministry is involved in the Divi Neguma Programme and noted that five line ministries are included in this initiative. They are the Ministry of Economic Development, Ministry of Traditional Industries and Small Enterprises, Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Ministry of State Resources and Enterprise Development and Ministry of Technology and Research. The Secretary also mentioned that the objective of the programme is developing a ‘Poverty Free World by 2016; and cottage industries are prioritized in achieving of the goal.
The ‘One product – One village concept’ is being practiced as to all resources and facilities are focused on one village. He said buy-back arrangements will be made in order to provide a full package to beneficiaries of the programme.
Mr. Jayaratne from the SEC provided some figures indicating the status of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE). Accordingly, the numbers of listed companies in the CSE were 242 in 2010, 272 in 2011 and 287 in 2012. The domestic and foreign investment in the last three years were Rs 464.9 billion and Rs 105.5 billion in 2010, respectively; Rs 486.9 billion and Rs 59.2 billion in 2011 and Rs 145.4 billion and Rs 43.3 billion in 2012.
The index performance from 1985 to October 2012 revealed that the ASPI (All Share Index) gained only 1,400 points for 24 years whereas the ASPI gained 4,250 points in 3 ˝ years after the war, he said.
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