News
Minister denies allegations of privatisation, assures job security
View(s):By Ishu Bandara
Minister of Energy Kumara Jayakody, responding to allegations of trade unions, dismissed claims that the government was privatising the CEB.
“That is a lie, and everyone knows it. We have an Act, published in Sinhala, Tamil, and English, that clearly states this remains a 100 percent government owned institution. Despite this, people are creating slogans and putting up signs claiming it’s been sold. These are baseless accusations, likely driven by political motives. There is no such sale happening anywhere.”
Responding to questions about job security, Minister Jayakody responded, “Let me tell you what we stopped from happening. Before we came to power, there was a cabinet-approved plan to break this institution into 12 companies and lay off 12,000 employees. We are the ones who changed that. Under our reform, we are creating four main licensed companies, and all employees will be securely placed in those four. Their jobs are safe there. If we need staff for other entities, like the new funding company, we will second them from these main four companies as needed.”
He added, “And on that note, the Voluntary Retirement Scheme, or VRS, is only being offered as an option for those who are unhappy with the changes and want to leave. We have no intention of forcing employees out or sending them home.”
On the allegation that electrical engineers’ have a monopoly within the CEB, as claimed by many unions, the minister said, “That is why we are doing this. One of the main reasons is to fix the internal structure. Many have complained about an ‘engineer monopoly,’ and it’s true there is such a monopoly. Engineers are in HR, in Accounts, and in other departments. This happened because powerful engineer unions set it up that way, preventing others from getting promotions. These are the issues we are addressing with this reform.”
The minister further stated “This is a complex process involving 26,000 employees, it can’t be an urgent decision. We have a schedule. Employees have about two months to state their preferences, and the entire transformation is expected to be completed within a year. People who want to see instant results need to understand it’s a process, but we are not delaying things. And claims of no transparency are just wrong, we are doing all of this with the employees.”
“I also hear criticisms that the people leading this aren’t experts. You may only see a few people on the surface, but there is a large team of about 100 experts and expert institutions working behind the scenes on this. We are supervising the entire thing,” said the Minister.
He addressed the issue of documents circulating on WhatsApp, saying, “If you see official documents on WhatsApp, those are not from us. We send official documents through the proper channels to the General Manager of the CEB. Maybe an employee shared them unofficially, but we do not operate like that.”
He emphasised, “We are also respecting employee rights; we haven’t even cancelled leave. However, I will be very clear, we will not allow any acts of sabotage that harm the public. Ultimately, this reform is being done for the benefit of the employees, the country, and its people, not just for a select few.”
The best way to say that you found the home of your dreams is by finding it on Hitad.lk. We have listings for apartments for sale or rent in Sri Lanka, no matter what locale you're looking for! Whether you live in Colombo, Galle, Kandy, Matara, Jaffna and more - we've got them all!