April 27, 2013, 7:25 pm


The government is now trying to pass the buck after pushing up power tariffs to an unbearable level to cover up corruption, waste and irregularities, Opposition and UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe said yesterday.

"Incredible stories are being dished out in a bid to justify this unwarranted and unprecedented spike in electricity rates", he told a UNP membership drive program and a youth front meeting in the Vavuniya town.

He said that while Power and Energy Minister, Pavithra Wanniarachchi says the steep electricity tariff revision was based on a decision by former Minister Champika Ranawaka, Ministers Keheliya Rambukwella and Basil Rajapaksa assert that the government had to go ahead with the increase because of power agreements signed by the UNP regime in 1993.

"At this rate, it won’t be long before the government starts blaming Sir John Kotelawala, who initiated the country’s first hydro-power project", Wickremesinghe noted.

Not stopping at such antics, it won’t come as a surprise if the government, in a bid to create displeasure amongst the people, now roll out yet another hilarious version that Thomas Alva Edison, who invented the practical, long-lasting electrical bulb in the 19th century, did so in collaboration with the Tamil diaspora!, the UNP leader said.

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