The Second Reading of the Sri Lanka Electricity (Amendment) Bill has been passed in Parliament.
The Bill was presented in Parliament by Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera.
Minister Wijesekera said the Bill is essential for Sri Lanka to ensure low-cost power generation in future.
Accordingly, the second reading of the Bill took place in Parliament today.
Following the second reading debate, the opposition requested for a division.
Accordingly, the bill was passed with a majority of 84 votes.
120 Parliamentarians voted in favour of the bill while 36 MPs voted against it. 13 Members abstained from voting.
The Speaker of House is required to ratify the bill to become a law.
Meanwhile, several trade unions including the Ceylon Electricity Board Engineers’ Union vehemently opposed the move to pass the bill.
The CEB Engineer’s Union also decided to stage an indefinite strike yesterday.
However, following talks with the President, the strike action was called off.
In that backdrop, Minister of Power and Energy Kanchana Wijesekera reiterated that he will not be deterred by the unions’ threats and will take forward the bill which will pave the way for the introduction of low-cost renewable energy projects in future.
