(LANKAPUVATH | COLOMBO) – Minister of Power and Energy today informed the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) that the approval of the Ministry will be required in future for nominations to senior posts and promotion in the senior management of the state-owned institution.
Minister of Power and Energy Monday held a meeting with the Chairman, General Manager (GM) and the Directors of CEB and instructed the officials regarding promotions for senior management at CEB.
Minister Wijesekera instructed the CEB management to obtain the Ministry approval and to immediately implement the board decision taken in 2020 that was to be implemented from 2025 regarding the minimum service period remaining required for the promotions to the positions of Deputy General Mangers (DGMs and Assistant General Managers (AGMs)
In making all the future promotions, a DGM should have a minimum of three years of service left before retirement and an AGM should have two years of service before retirement.
The Minister asked the officials for a report on a recent promotion to a senior official with only one working day was left before her retirement
Furthermore, since the current GM is retiring next month, instructions were also given to nominate persons and get the approval of the Ministry for the post of GM for individuals that has prior administrative experience and a minimum of 3 year service period remaining for retirement.
The Power and Energy Minister informed the CEB senior management about the progress of the current restructuring activities of the Board and mentioned that the necessary cabinet approval for the restructuring draft will be obtained as soon as the approval of the Attorney General is received.
The officials were reminded of the importance of not implementing decisions that hinder or challenge the activities during this period of restructuring.
It was also pointed out that since a human resources audit is being carried out in conjunction with the restructuring program, new recruitments and confirmations should not be made and permission from the ministry should be obtained in each case, as previously informed.
The officials were further instructed to nominate officers who can serve for 3 years or more while nominating officers for training tours abroad and to use online methods whenever possible for such necessities without overseas travel.
As a physical resource audit is in progress, the officials were told to halt purchasing or renting new buildings and offices and their attention was also drawn to stopping vehicle rentals.
The Minister also informed that since the 8% contribution of the Electricity Board for the pension fund is not enough, steps must be taken to increase the contribution.
The CEB officials were also given instructions to make necessary arrangements for the procurement of electricity In order to stop emergency electricity purchases and implement the long-term electricity plan to provide continuous electricity,
Reform process of CEB, power generation plans, assets management, reducing administrative and operating costs and related issues were also discussed.
