A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Tuesday, May 2, 2017
What Dr. Batagoda says about CEB chairman’s resignation!
Trouble
at the Ceylon Electricity Board renewed following the resignation of
its chairman Anura Wijepala recently. As usual, fingers continue to be
pointed at each other. Some suggest that his resignation was influenced
by the CEB engineers’ union, subject minister Ranjith Siyambalapitiya
and ministry secretary Dr. Suren Batagoda. He had resigned reportedly
after being told to bring the CEB’s internal audit division, which
functioned under the chairman and the board of directors, under the
general manager. That issue had been brewing for some time and the
chairman resigned after a deadline was given for the handover.
The CEB is not short of problems and many a hitherto unheard of stories
started to make rounds after the chairman’s resignation. Before going
into those, Lanka News Web asked Dr. Batagoda about the matter at hand.
He is of the view, and the general view of the ministry, that the CEB
internal audit division should function independently for it to carry
out its intended purpose. “An audit is done to find out, if any wrong
had been done. Solutions can be found if wrongs are identified.
Correcting wrongs will lead to development. Those that need to be
independent should remain independent. It is one thing for everybody to
assist in the administrative affairs. But, in such a scenario, all
should work with one stand.”
It is known that the CEB engineers’ union has a big say in the
institution. Other trade unions are displeased with the engineers’ union
due to its inflexibility. According to CEB sources, everything is done,
and should be done, according to the wishes of the engineers’ union.
That is why there is no end to problems at the CEB.
This is what the secretary has to say, “Anyway, there is a clash among
the trade unions, director board and the chairman. That is due to the
conduct of the engineers. They are no flexible. In such a scenario, it
is not an easy task to solve problems. The chairman too, is an engineer.
Why should the independently functioning internal audit division be
brought under the general manager? That makes the engineers’ intention
clear. Some accuse us of siding with the engineers. That is completely
wrong. We want to solve this problem. The CEB has conceited people. It
is not flexible to solve a problem there. Not even the chairman can
control them. The media reported that we had instructed the chairman to
bring the internal audit department under the general manager before May
02. Wrong things are communicated. As the ministry, we are on a correct
stand. Mainly the clashes among the engineers’ union, other trade
unions, director board and the chairman have aggravated problems at the
CEB.”
According to what the secretary says, everybody wants to increase their
share. That is why there is no end to the problems at the CEB. Almost
every time, the finger is leveled at the engineers. A collective
workplace should have a collective responsibility. Everything should be
faced collectively and resolved collectively. That exactly is what is
not happening now. Doesn’t such a conflicting situation breach the
services of one of the leading institutions in the country?
Ashika Brahmana