Minister gets Committee report on power failure

• Report to be submit to Cabinet this week

The report on the islandwide power failure last Monday was handed over to Power Minister Dullas Alahapperuma yesterday by the Committee tasked with the probe.

Minister Alahapperuma is expected to hand over the report to the Cabinet tomorrow. 

According to the Ministry, the nine-member committee headed by Prof. Rahula Attalage to investigate the sudden power outage that affected the entire country was tasked to identify measures to reduce the risk of recurrence of such conditions.

The islandwide blackout experienced on 17 August was due to a failure in the transmission system at Kerawalapitiya Grid-Substation. Following the power failure Minister Alahapperuma appointed the committee to investigate the incident.

The islandwide power failure also led to load shedding for four days. The Public Utility Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) also called the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) to hand over two reports about the power failure.

Minister Alahapperuma apologised for the power failure and stated that he would take necessary measures to prevent a recurrence in future. He also noted that the CEB should focus on social welfare and provide high-quality services to the customers rather than earning profits.