10-hour power cut claim: Minister says TUs cannot act like terrorists

Rejecting the claim made by CEB Engineers Union President that there would be 10-hour-power cuts next year, Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera said today that legal action will be taken against the said TU over the false statement.

He told the media that the statement made to the media by the Trade Union was “baseless and completely false.”

“Therefore, I have instructed the CEB Chairman, and the Ministry Secretary to take legal action against the Union's President based on instructions of the Attorney General. A trade union should have discipline. It cannot act like a terrorist group,” he said.

The Minister assured that the authorities had not taken any decision to shut down all three units of the coal power plant at the same time and claimed that there was no need to take such a drastic decision.

“According to the information provided by CEB officials, it was proposed to shut down the three units of the Lakvijaya Power Plant on three different schedules next year,” he said. (Chaturanga Samarawickrame)