Three new General Managers have been appointed to key companies established to replace the dissolved Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) as part of a major restructuring of Sri Lanka’s power sector.
Accordingly, Engineer N. G. Saliya Panditharatne has been appointed as the General Manager of Lanka Electricity Generation Lanka (Pvt) Ltd. Engineer N. S. Wettasinghe has been appointed to head the National Transmission Network Service Providers (Pvt) Ltd, while Engineer K. S. I. Kumara will serve as the General Manager of Electricity Distribution Lanka (Pvt) Ltd.
Although these appointments were made on the 6th, authorities have yet to appoint General Managers for two other newly formed entities — Electricity Board Employees’ Fund (Pvt) Ltd and Energy Ventures Lanka (Pvt) Ltd.
Meanwhile, all trade unions that operated under the CEB will cease to exist from midnight today, as the board’s operational activities officially come to an end.
With the dissolution of the CEB, the existing unions will automatically become invalid. Union groups will now be required to re-register and form new trade unions under the newly established employer companies.
Sources within the power sector reveal that more than 40 trade unions previously affiliated with the CEB have already begun the process of registering new unions under their respective new employer entities.
The sweeping changes mark a historic transition in Sri Lanka’s electricity sector, effectively bringing the long-standing operations of the Ceylon Electricity Board to a close.
