CEB to reduce workforce to 18,000

The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) is planning to reduce its workforce to 18,000, CEB General Manager, Eng. Narendra de Silva said recently before a parliamentary committee.

Speaking before the Select Committee of Parliament to Investigate Causes for Financial Bankruptcy declared by the Government, he said that problems in the energy sector were a key reason for the economic crisis in the country, He said that the CEB has built two LNG power plants. However, given that there is no LNG, the CEB will operate them using diesel.

“80 percent of our expenses are spent on procuring inputs to generate power. We produce electricity using high cost fuels, so obviously we spend a lot of money to generate electricity.”

Silva said salaries amount to only five percent of the cost. The CEB has a cadre requirement of about 24,000 but it now only has about 22,000 employees.

“There is a plan to reduce the cadre to 18,000. However, if you want to reduce tariffs, we need to generate electricity using lower cost energy sources. The best options now are wind and solar power.”