With a cold war raging between a top Ceylon Electricity Board official, who is a senior engineer and others at senior management level consisting mostly engineers, the most powerful man in the Ceylon Electricity Board, General Manager, Nihal Wickramasuriya, has called a meeting in a bid to reconcile those at daggers drawn.

Wickremasuriya, who is the senior most engineer in the CEB, told The Island yesterday that he was not aware of the latest breakdown which had been blamed on a top official. However, he made immediate inquiries and said that the situation was under control as The Island exclusively reported on Saturday.

Of the internal rift at the first coal fired plant in Norochcholai, Wickramasuriya said apart from him, CEB Chairman Ariyaratne Ganegala and Power and Energy Ministry Secretary M. M. C. Ferdinando had also been informed of the internal dispute. However, none of the employees at Norochchclai had come out with full details, he said. “If it is a personal matter, steps would be taken to iron it out, if it is a technical, issue then I will be compelled to hold an inquiry into it.”

Following the latest breakdown that lasted for about 24 hours, the plant resumed operations Friday night.

An engineer said that Norochcholai second plant was in the processes of being commissioned. “If such problems continue to occur we won’t be in a position to give an efficient service. Needless to say if the number of technical issues we have had faced since the first commissioning continues to plague us, then things will remain the same”.

The Rs. 45 billion plant’s latest problem was chiefly due to alleged inefficient management that had led to a breakdown in the boiler when attempts were made to run it at full capacity on an ad hoc basis on Thursday night, sources said. (by Ifham Nizam)

Source: The Islands (Sri Lanka)