A revelation at the COPE Committee about the wonderful allowances received by CEB employees

The COPE Committee has decided to meet separately in the near future to look into the power generation, procurement, distribution and projects of the Ceylon Electricity Board.

The decision was taken at a meeting of Parliament yesterday (June 21) chaired by Prof. Charitha Herath, Chairman of the Committee on Public Enterprises, to review the Auditor General's Reports and current performance of the Ceylon Electricity Board for the years 2017 and 2018.

Earlier (June 10), Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) officials were summoned to the COPE Committee to discuss the matter.

Members of Parliament who were present pointed out that there was a discrepancy in the discussions on purchases, distributions and projects of the Ceylon Electricity Board in particular.

Due to this, the members requested the Chairman of the COPE Committee to inform the Parliament and the Speaker to appoint a Select Committee to look into all matters including the generation plan.

The Chairman of the COPE Committee pointed out that the COPE Committee could meet specifically to look into this matter.

He also pointed out that it would be possible to look into this better.

Accordingly, the members present also agreed and it was decided to convene a special meeting before the COPE Committee to look into this matter.

Attention was also drawn to the decision taken by the Cabinet of Ministers on 14th November 2008 and the payment of various staff allowances to the staff from time to time with the approval of the Board of Directors contrary to the provisions of the Management Services Circular No. 39 of 26 May 2009.

Accordingly, it was revealed that Rupees. 2,134.9 million has been provided as these allowances in the year 2021 and Rupees. 1,544.4 million in the year 2020.

The COPE Chairman pointed out that all this money should be held accountable as it is public money.

He also pointed out that some of the categories used for allowance payments were ridiculous.

For example, in addition to 'reading the meter', there is also an allowance for 'reading the meter correctly', he added.

He also pointed out that the annual expenditure of the Ceylon Electricity Board exceeds the revenue expected by the Inland Revenue Department through all taxes.

Further, the decision taken by the Cabinet in December 2007 to revise the salaries and when it came to a collective agreement in May 2015, it was decided to shift the liability of Earnings Tax (PAYE) and Advance Personal Income Tax (APIT) to the employees but in 2010 It was also revealed that the Ceylon Electricity Board had paid Rupees. 4.8 billion (PAYE / APIT) in taxes from its fund without deducting the salaries of the relevant employees from 2020 to the year 2020.

Officials who were present pointed out that the payment of this tax has been stopped by now.

Commenting on this, the COPE Chairman pointed out that this is a big issue on the part of the country.

He also pointed out that this shows that in the end this money was paid from the money of the people of the country.

Similarly, the Ceylon Electricity Board had increased the salaries of employees by 25% in 2021 based on the draft collective agreement.

However, it was revealed that this was not a legal document as it was an unfinished draft agreement as the relevant parties, employers and unions had not signed the draft.

Accordingly, the COPE Committee explained that the adverse impact on the Board due to this unauthorized payment was approximately Rupees. 9.6 billion.

The COPE chairman pointed out that in focusing on this, the institution appears to be non-state-owned.

The Seethawaka River Hydro Power Project was scheduled to be commissioned by 2022 as per the Long Term Power Generation Plan 2018-2034, but the project was halted at a cost of Rupees.

In particular, the Members of Parliament who were present pointed out that the feasibility study had been carried out at a cost of Rupees. Therefore, it was recommended that a full report on this be submitted to the COPE Committee.

In addition, a consignment of coal purchased from Torian Iron and Steel Company (TISCL) Ltd. through Ceylon Coal Company (LCC) in 2013 could not be unloaded due to the monsoon effect, and the annual new generation of electricity as planned according to the long-term generation plan. Extraction from various power plants and energy sources was also discussed at length.