Lights for 78% of population by end this year

By Anura Maitipe

The government has completed 5,525 rural electrification projects at a cost of Rs. 13.2 billion provided by international donor agencies. Electricity will be provided to 78 percent of people in the country by the end of the year, Minister of Power and Energy W. D. J. Seneviratne told the Sunday Observer.

The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has completed over 4,500 rural electrification projects at a cost of Rs. 7.6 billion with financial assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in the conflict affected areas of the Northern and Eastern provinces.

Over 12,000 families who had no electricity for the past 20 years will benefit by the project, the Minister said. The Chinese Government has provided Rs. 2.4 billion and out of these funds the (CEB) has completed 400 rural electrification projects in various parts of the country and over 75,000 families have benefited, he said.

With Rs. 2.4 billion provided by the Swedish Government, the CEB has completed over 225 rural electrification schemes this year. NOMAD has also provided Rs. 8 billion and these funds have been used by the CEB to provide electricity for 9,000 families in the Eastern province, the Minister said.

The government is targeting to provide electricity to 85 percent of the people before the end of next year, he said.