Govt. assures uninterrupted power and fuel supplies to BOI firms in EPZs

• Says shortages will be addressed by next week
• An alternative mechanism to be introduced for BOI enterprises to access power from CEB
• Proposal put forward to allow BOI firms to directly purchase fuel paying in US dollars

By Nishel Fernando
Aviation and Export Zones Development State Minister D.V. Chanaka assured the power disruptions and fuel shortages faced by the companies in the BOI Export Processing Zones would come to an end shortly. He shared that the shortages are likely to come to end by next week.

“I had discussions with Power Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi today (Thursday) and she promised us that the power cuts will not be continued in the BOI Export Processing Zones,” Chanaka announced.

Addressing the 41st Annual General Meeting of the Free Trade Zone Manufacturers’ Association (FTZMA), held in Colombo on Thursday, FTZMA Chairman Jatinder Biala urged the government to ensure uninterrupted power supply and fuel supplies to the companies located in the BOI Export Processing Zones. Otherwise, he warned that the country’s export sector would come into a collapse with the catastrophic economic consequences to the country.

The Power Ministry issued a directive to the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) to provide power supply to the 14 Export Processing Zones in the country to enable all factories in those zones to continue its operations without power interruptions.  However, five BOI Export Processing Zones faced power cuts on the whole of Wednesday and Thursday morning. The Katunayke and Biyagama Export Parocessing Zones also faced power disruptions.
“The current power disruptions on Wednesday and Thursday occurred due to the severe shortage of fuel and a large drop in water levels at our reservoir. This will be sorted out soon as possible,” 
Chanaka noted.

In addition, he announced that the alternative mechanisms would be shortly in place to ensure uninterested power supply and to meet the fuel requirements of the Export Processing Zones.

“We are working on an alternative mechanism for enterprises to access to power from the CEB and at the same, we are also working on a different method to secure the required fuel for the BOI companies. We have already submitted the fuel requirement of the BOI companies to the relevant authorities. Hopefully, within next week, we should be able to overcome this issue as well,” he elaborated.

Speaking to Mirror Business on the side-lines of the event, it was revealed that the ministry is in discussions with Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) and the Energy Ministry to obtain fuel to the BOI firms in these zones directly.

“As the BOI firms are ready to pay for fuel in US dollars, which would be a relief to the government, we are having a discussion with all relevant authorities. We are trying to obtain import licences for the BOI firms to directly source their fuel requirements. We are sending our request to CPC and the Energy Ministry on this,” he said.