I wish to draw your kind attention to my letters dated 12th September and 21st September 2001, addressed to Dr. Ranjith Cabral, in his capacity as Acting Chairman of the Ceylon Electricity Board.

I also wish to draw your attention to a letter dated September 13, under reference 9574/2001, addressed to Dr. Ranjith Cabral by Mr. Ravi Karunanayake, Member of Parliament.

Regrettably, the Ceylon Electricity Board nor any of the State Institutions to which these letters have been copied, including the Presidential Secretariat, the office of the Prime Minister and the office of the Minister of Power and Energy, have had the courtesy of even acknowledging receipt of these letters.

This alone proves that they do not have a plausible explanation to give the general public on the above subject.

It is my personal opinion that, as Chairman of the Ceylon Electricity Board, the entire nation is entitled to have an explanation on the following, without any further delay:

(1) Statement made by the President that there will be no need to cut power even by one hour, as reported in the government controlled media (‘Daily News’ of February 28, 1997).

(2) The 11 agreements that have been signed with internationally reputed electricity companies for boosting the capacity of the national grid, as reported in the same newspaper publication referred to in (1) above.

(3) The assurance given by the Prime Minister that electricity will be provided without cuts, whether there is rain or blazing sun, as reported in "The Island" of September 11, 2001.
Brian Nicholas
Colombo