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Wednesday, 13 March 2013 01:24 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Dharisha Bastians
Failed Government policy is threatening to plunge Sri Lanka into darkness, with proposed electricity tariffs likely to raise household bills by 50%, the main Opposition United National Party charged yesterday.
Responding to news reports that the Public Utilities Commission would raise electricity rates by 50%, UNP General Secretary Tissa Attanayake told a news conference that the people were being made to pay for Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) losses that were a result of the Government’s poor energy policy.
“If a State institution is making losses, the Government has to bear that responsibility. The people did not cause the CEB’s losses. Norochcholai did. Kerawalapitiya did. The people cannot be fleeced to make up for the Government’s corrupt energy policies,” Attanayake told the media.
He said it was not subsidies to consumers that had caused the CEB losses. “From 1 April, a household that was paying Rs. 2,000 for electricity will have to pay Rs. 3,000. With every stroke, the Government is increasing the people’s economic burden,” the UNP General Secretary charged.
The UNP urged the Government to reverse the decision to increase electricity rates.
According to Attanayake, the most affected by the new tariff hike would be students who burn the midnight oil to study. “Parents may be compelled to say switch off to conserve energy because they can no longer afford to pay the bills. We may soon enter an age when people have electricity but are too afraid to turn on the lights,” he said.
He said to switch on the lights would mean having to pay the ‘Chinthana Tax’ owing to the poor ‘Chinthana’ policies of the Government. “Has the President no feeling for what he is putting the people of this country through?” Attanayake asked. The UNP General Secretary said that the new energy price hikes would drive prices up in all other sectors and plunge the nation into darkness in the days ahead.
