• Ad-hoc outages hit operations and profits
• Stakeholders losing confidence in local biz environment
• Says no new project that requires uninterrupted electricity would come to SL
• Demands allowance from govt. for self-generated power 

By Shabiya Ali Ahlam
The country’s exporters yesterday expressed their frustration over continued challenges faced by them in carrying out day-to-day activities with unannounced power cuts. 

Hiccups in Sri Lanka’s operational environment do not seem to end, and exporters said they can no longer cushion themselves from the repeated issues faced by them, and the unexpected power cuts are hampering not just operations, but profits as well.

“The unplanned power cuts will have a huge negative impact on productivity and profitability of the industries. Many of our members have resorted to uninterrupted power supply systems linked with standby power generation, but these are very costly solutions,” said National Chamber of Exporters (NCE) Secretary-General/CEO Shiham Marikar.

Stakeholders have been vocal about losing confidence in the business environment, he said, as the emergence of challenges that come in different forms regularly have become a norm that cannot be digested anymore.
“Our exporters are frustrated,” Marikar said while sharing the pulse of the export sector with Mirror Business yesterday.

“No new project requiring electric power will come here. The existing industries will continue downsizing,” he stressed.

Members have shared with the NCE that the remedy from the government to resolve this crisis should be in the form of making fuel available at duty-free prices or providing an allowance for self-generated power for all industries.

“Exporters should be provided with all the support, be it financial, technical, as well as psychological. Industry 4.0 is something all industrialists should understand and put into practice as it gives the chance of maximising productivity which is essential today,” said Marikar.

Since the start of the New Year, Sri Lankan businesses and the general public alike have been grappling with ad-hoc power interruptions.

Even on days the Ministry of Power and Energy assured that there would be no power interruptions, different parts of the country witnessed unannounced outages.