Sri Lanka is facing a fuel crisis at present
Trade unions say the country is facing a fuel crisis at present.Speaking to NewsRadio, trade unionist Ananda Palitha said the country does not possess adequate stocks of fuel to meet the demand.
Palitha criticized Minister of Energy Udaya Gammanpila’s involvement in accepting the 40,000 MT fuel consignment from the Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka yesterday.
He said the consignment sufficient for eight days was obtained under the condition of repayment within two months.The trade unionist said this put the country’s sovereignty at risk adding this also proved the country and the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation was bankrupt and that the country is no longer able to obtain fuel independently.
Palitha said the Energy Minister’s claims of having access to unlimited stocks of fuel to meet the demand was false adding sufficient stocks of fuel are not being released to the market at present.
He said the Minister on a separate occasion claimed that available fuel stocks can only last a week and it will not be sufficient if fuel is distributed to power plants.
Responding to the statement made by Chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka stating there is no need to impose scheduled power cuts in the near future, Ananda Palitha agreed power cuts need not be imposed as long as the CPC continues to provide fuel to the Ceylon Electricity Board power plants according to their statutory responsibilities.
