NPP slams moves to close down PUCSL

• Says President’s Secy. has no authority to instruct PUCSL closure
• Warns move will pave way for corruption

National People’s Power (NPP) MP Anura Kumara Dissanayake yesterday slammed the Government over moves to dissolve the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) and said the move is aimed at paving the way for more corruption in the power sector.

He also questioned what authority the Secretary to the President Dr. P.B. Jayasundera has to instruct the Finance Ministry Secretary to initiate steps to close down the PUCSL.

“The PUCSL was set up by an Act of Parliament, and it comes under the purview of the Finance Ministry. So, what right has P.B. Jayasundera got to send a letter asking that steps be taken to close down the Commission?” Dissanayake asked.

He also said the Finance Ministry Secretary S.R. Attygalle had telephoned and instructed PUCSL members to step down, and said this, too, should not have been done.

He said that when the former Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake tried to bring a barge to the country to generate power and sell a unit of electricity at Rs. 26, it was the PUCSL that put a stop to it, saying it was a colossal waste of public money. 

“This Commission has always stood on the die of the consumers, and its members were all distinguished persons,” he said.

Dissanayake also tabled in the House a copy of the letter that was sent was sent by Dr. Jayasundera to Attygalle.