CEB engineers slam Chairman over report

The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) Engineers Union yesterday criticized the CEB Chairman’s recent report calling for a review of the entire range of allowances available to all public corporations and statutory boards.

The Union pointed out that the Chairman’s reasons for recurring loses at the CEB was absurd, as he had not understood the real reasons for the losses.

The current financial crisis at the CEB, is a matter to verify the management capabilities of the chairman," a senior Engineer said.

He said, that though the CEB Chairman Udaya Kariyawasam has very good financial qualifications, the Union was surprised as to how, despite being an accountant by profession, he could not understand basic management.

The Engineers’ Union said according to Kariyawasam, the CEB workers’ loan portfolio is over rupees 2.2 billion and thus called for a review of the entire range of allowances.

The engineers said they take loans from their provident fund.

The Union said: "That is our own money, and we get it at a concessionary rate. The CEB provides loans to purchase cars for officers and motor bicycles for others at an interest rate of seven per cent, which was not a grant."

A senior engineer said: "the Chairman was talking about seven or eight-year-old contracts, especially when paid in dollars, but he was the one who signed the Letter of Intent (LOI) and campaigned for the Indian wind plant project which was paid in US$ terms."