|
Power To The People
Sri Lanka's new power minister appears to be going for broke to add new capacity to the national grid in a bid to avert the country's long-standing power crisis. Take the ambitious Upper Kotmale Hydro-Power, due to be commissioned in April. "The Upper Kotmale Hydro-Power project will generate 150 MW at a cost of US$ 350 million," a Power and Energy Ministry official said. Funding is in place thanks to the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation. All very well, but Sri Lanka's surfeit of hydro-electric power is at the root of the power crisis. Adding to it - with this new project won't resolve the issue.
Resignation Tabled
Sri Lanka's sporting world appears to be suffering no shortage of bad luck. Cricket scandals, corrupt Sports Ministry officials and now Janaka Bandara Tennakoon has resigned as the President of the Sri Lanka Table Tennis Association, citing "personal reasons." As an interesting aside Tennakoon is also a former deputy minister. Political connections, it appears, don't stop outside the Parliamentary building. Evidently, he put the "pong" in ping-pong. In a bid to rule out such fould play, the new sports minister Johnston
Fernando has said that he would not permit politicians to head national sports bodies. We wish him luck.
Asylum
Some harsh words indeed from Sri Lanka's new power minister on the country's state-run electricity board and it's mishandling of the power crisis. "The Minister of Power and Energy himself has said that the Electricity Board has been a mad house," reports said. Press reports go one step further, calling the CEB "a house of jokers." And apparently they have good reason for doing so, namely, a recent story in the Sunday Times reporting that the Board is "retaining the services of a 'mathara gurukam' man to get the rain gods to deliver a downpour pronto." The story, we hear, has yet to be officially denied.
Powerful Garbage
Sri Lanka's power crisis could have an unlikely saviour - garbage. A
proposal to take over the thousands of tons of garbage and produce electricity to beat the power crisis has been made by a subsidiary of a U.K.-based company, reports said. "The proposal, now being considered by the Ministry of Power ... involves the management of solid waste in the Colombo city and two suburbs to generate energy," according to The Sunday Times. While the power-from-trash project is developed, hapless Sri Lankans must endure further power cuts which were extended recently.
Incognito
Confusion appears to reign supreme in Sri Lanka's armed forces judging by a recent incident where a senior police officer - passing himself off as the LTTE's eastern leader Karuna - was happily waved through military checkpoints. The security test began when troops manning the Welikanda checkpoint off
Polonnaruwa stopped a double cab coming from Batticaloa. The man in the front seat, wearing dark glasses, lowered the shutter and said he was Karuna, signaled and drove off. It transpired soldiers had passed 'Karuna' had through previous checkpoints. "They thought there was no harm in allowing him to go because there is a ceasefire," reports said. "And finally they identified the Karuna. He was a senior police officer who wanted to check his men." Evidently, they were not too clear on how they should deal with wandering LTTE officers.
Police Business
Crime appears to be prospering in the Sri Lankan capital and the 'multi-purpose' role of police
vehicles has been blamed for the increase in crime, rep-orts say. Over 75% of
police vehicles in Colombo and its suburbs are allegedly used for private work including taking children to schools and taking
housewives to markets. Those flashing blue lights get the kids to school on time, but the 'unofficial' use of
police vehicles has prevented officials in carrying out their duties. The bad guys must be laughing all the way to the
bank, and from it for that matter.
|
