Web of Life

Power and Energy Minister Susil Premajayantha informed parliament yesterday that the Embilipitiya Thermal Power plan would go into operation next month – despite protests and fears of serious environmental damage to villages in and around the area.

Making a special statement in response to JHU MP Athuraliye Ratana Thera's question the day before, Minister Premajayantha said the construction of the thermal power plant was almost complete and power generation would start in the first week of next month.

The monk had asked whether an environmental impact assessment (EIA) was submitted and whether the protests by residents and environmental groups were taken into consideration.

Mr. Premajayantha said approval from environmental authorities was obtained and that the power plant was built according to Central Environmental Authority (CEA) guidelines. The petitions of the protestors were referred to the various government departments, and were being considered, he said.

"I will submit the environmental impact assessment to parliament. One must remember that the plan was mooted in 2003 and construction taken over by a private sector company. Then it was 80 per cent complete. Now it is ready to begin power output", Mr. Premajayantha said.

The Minister said the government could not rely solely on alternative power sources to meet the power demand. "To develop the national economy, we need power. We will have a power crisis if the scheduled power plants are not constructed", he said.

In response to another MPs query, the Minister said the price of a unit of power was not mentioned by the firm but other firms sold a unit at Rs. 9.9 higher.

"We have a world recognized master plan to construct power plants to provide the energy requirement. But due to protests, we have failed to stick to the plan, and a power crisis exists. Therefore, as a short term measure the construction of thermal power plants is suggested. We have also looked into small hydropower plants which currently give 75 megawatts but they cannot cope when a big demand occurs.

(http://www.dailymirror.lk/2005/03/12/front/2.asp)