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The Government yesterday staunchly denied Sri Lanka was embattled in a power crisis, insisting that power supply would return to normal in a few days, and blamed previous Governments for not adding additional power to meet growing demand.
United National Party MP Prof. Ashu Marasinghe, rejecting the motion at the Adjournment Time on “Power cut in the country”, proposed by the United People’s Freedom Alliance (UPFA) MP Mahindananda Aluthgamage, held that in a few more days the supply will return to normalcy.
“We have the generation plan for 2018 -2038. According to this plan, we assure the country that the Government will meet the growing demand. We will efficiently and effectively manage power demand. Due to the bad weather, most houses consume more electricity for fans and air conditions.
During the Committee Stage Program on Friday, we will take up the Ministry of Power, Energy and Business Development. You can talk about the power cuts during the debate, rather than moving an Adjournment Motion,” he said.
Joining the debate, UNP MP Mujibur Rahuman held the current Government should not be the sole entity held responsible for the crisis. According to Rahuman, previous Governments of the last two decades have failed to manage the power crisis by adding more electricity to cater to the growing demand.
“Due to adverse weather, the demand for electricity has gone up. During the last decade, there was no significant addition to electricity generation. So, there is an issue. For two decades, President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and President Mahinda Rajapaksa ruled the country. Your Norochcholai is nothing but a failure. It is under repairs most of the time. The Minster has assured to provide uninterrupted power supply within the next few days. Your Governments failed to do any power generation that would significantly increase the power generation,” he said.
However, UPFA lawmaker Aluthgamage held the Government is fully responsible to keep the nation lighted. “The Minster lives in the close vicinity of Parliament. He is not here to respond to the Adjournment Motion,” he charged.
