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As Govt. expedites CEB carving up, trade unions talk to ILO
View(s):By Namini Wijedasa
The government is speeding ahead with carving up the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) into separate companies, having this week circulated a draft “preliminary transfer plan” (PTP) which details how the utility’s various activities, assets and liabilities will be distributed among successor entities.
A draft corporate governance structure, recruitment and selection policy and employee handbook for those joining the successor companies are also in circulation.
Meanwhile, a joint front of CEB unions continues its work-to-rule campaign amid discussions with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and Sri Lanka’s Commissioner of Labour regarding the protection of employee entitlements, a spokesman said. “The management is still silent,” he added.
The CEB has assets valued at over Rs 1 trillion and a workforce of more than 22,000. It is the first time a state-owned enterprise of such size is being “unbundled”. The 10-page PTP will come into effect after the cabinet approves it.
There will also be a “final transfer plan”, which is yet to be released. It will prescribe the process for implementing “all remaining matters” required to complete the restructuring of the electricity industry.
The PTP has introduced the successor companies and described the mechanism of transfer and assignation of divisions, branches, units, functions and employees of the CEB to each one. It also has the opening balance sheets and initial organisation structures of the new entities, etc.
Six companies have been named: Electricity Generation Lanka (Pvt) Ltd (EGL); National Transmission Network Service Provider (Pvt) Ltd (NTNSP); National System Operator (NSO); Electricity Distribution Lanka (Pvt) Ltd (EDL); CEB Employees Fund (Pvt) Ltd (CEBEF); and Energy Ventures Lanka (Pvt) Ltd (EVL).
The PTP has assigned the workers of all CEB divisions to each of the four main companies – EGL, NTNSP, NSO and EDL.
In a letter to the Energy Ministry Secretary, the Power Sector Reforms Secretariat (PSRS) Director General Pubudu Niroshan has said that the initial allocation of all employees “shall be with the same designation, location of work, duties and functions (as-is, where-is basis) and shall not be made less favourable than the current terms and conditions under their contract of employment with the CEB…”
But trade unions during a two-and-a-half-hour meeting with the ILO on Thursday complained about the way the reform process was being carried out, particularly how assignation letters (separating them into companies) were issued. The ILO was also informed that there were neither experts nor consultants on labour in the PSRS.
According to a communique circulated by the unions, the ILO reportedly said it will request the International Monetary Fund to intervene to safeguard the rights of workers.
“The preliminary transfer plan is just 10 pages,” Somawansa Illukthanna, President of the CEB Engineers’ Union (CEBEU), told the Sunday Times. “This is a huge organisation with so many processes and issues. They [PSRS] think it is simple; that you unbundle it and it just works. But if you see the experience of other countries, it took years for things to normalise.”
The PTP does not cover many issues that need to be there, he said. Another union pushed for a serious and detailed stakeholder consultation, including with labour representatives. “There are matters that need to be addressed at the outset,” said A G U Nishantha, Senior Vice President of the Technical Engineers and Superintendents Union. “If the grey areas remain, it will take a long time to correct them. There has also been no proper consultation for the human resources plan.”
According to the PTP, the EGL will produce electricity from hydro, thermal and renewable energy sources. Thus, it will take over the assets, liabilities and functions of the CEB related to hydropower operations, Lakvijaya Coal Power Plant and Lanka Coal Company (Pvt) Ltd, thermal power generation other than coal, the Mannar Thambapavani Wind Power Plant and the Trincomalee Power Company Ltd.
NTNSP is responsible for electricity transmission and maintenance of the national grid. It will take over the development, maintenance and operation of the national grid’s physical infrastructure; LTL Holdings Ltd and Sri Lanka Energies (Pvt) Ltd; and all other matters related to the electricity transmission sector.
The NSO will take over electricity demand forecasting and planning, the procurement of electricity and sale in bulk form, economic dispatch of electricity, the management – including operation and maintenance – of the system control centre and the national grid, etc.
EDL will receive the Lanka Electricity Company (Pvt) Ltd and all distribution divisions and activities of the CEB.
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