The Bill was passed without amendments on June 9

Pic by Pradeep Dilrukshana   

By Sandun A. Jayasekera

General Secretary of the SLFP, former Minister Dayasiri Jayasekara charged yesterday that President Gotabaya Rajapakse lied to the country when he said that the amendments proposed to the ‘Sri Lanka Electricity (Amendment) Bill would be incorporated at the committee stage in Parliament but the Bill was passed without amendments on June 9.   

Mr. Jayasekara told the media at the party office last morning that President Rajapaksa met ‘CEB Engineers Union’ on the 8th of June when they threatened to call an island wide strike plunging the entire country into darkness, if  this Bill was passed as it is. He gave a pledge to the engineers to introduce amendments to the Electricity Bill being debated in Parliament. But Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekara failed to meet the promise of the President and the Bill was passed with no amendments.   “We don’t know whether President Rajapaksa advised Minister Wijesekara to ignore the pledge and pass the Bill without amendments. If Minister Wijesekara ignored the President’s promise given to the engineers, the President must take action against him,” he emphasised.   

Mr. Jayasekara said power projects involve billions of rupees and are open for heavy corruptions at various stages. Corruption continues at land alienation, at procurement of machinery, deciding of power purchase etc. That is why the opposition proposed these amendments.   

The 21st Amendment to the Constitution also proposes a new piece of legislation to enable a citizen to file a petition in the Supreme Court if he or she has any doubt on a Bill passed in Parliament, whether it has incorporated the amendments as required by the Supreme Court or whether there is any clause in the Act passed detrimental to the national interests.