Two engineers of the Ceylon Electricity Board have been suspended for imposing power cuts on the 9th of June without prior approval and for operating diesel power plants to generate electricity instead of hydro power plants.
The duo had arbitrarily imposed power cuts as a mark of protest as the government presented the Sri Lanka Electricity Amendment Bill in Parliament on the 9th of June.
CEB employee unions also staged a protest against the presentation of the Bill.
Speaking in Parliament today, Minister of Energy Kanchana Wijesekera said action has been taken based on the preliminary investigations conducted by the Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka.
The Minister noted that two engineers at system control have been removed as further investigations must be carried out on the incident.
Minister Wijesekera noted that the country incurred massive losses due to the actions of the two engineers.
The Minister said trade unions may now resort to further strikes based on the development.
He said they cannot as a government permit such actions and allow those responsible to go unpunished.
