Mar 05, Colombo: Trade unions affiliated to Sri Lanka's power sector say that plans are underway to privatize the state-owned power supplier, Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB).

Secretary of the CEB joint trade unions, Ranjan Jayalal notes that the government is trying to privatize the CEB under the new Power and Energy Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi.

He observed that the relevant legislation had been presented before parliament on February 5th as amendments to the legislation passed in 2009.

He explains that under the proposed legislation a foreign country would take over the generation, distribution and transmission of electricity in the country.

According to Jayalal, there's a mechanism for the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to issue licenses to foreign countries to engage in the country' power generation, transmission and distribution.

The CEB joint trade union has written to the Power and Energy Minister requesting for an appointment to discuss the issue, but has not yet received a positive response.