Eighth Meeting of the Select Committee - 10, March 2005

Chairman and Deputy Chairman of Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) Mr Anil Obeysekera and Mr Chandrasena Maliatta, Dr Hans Wijayasuriya, CEO of Dialog, Mr Malith Fonseka, General Manager of the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), Kirthi Jayawardena, Additional General Manager for the Generation Sector, CEB, Mr Ranjith Gunewardena, Additional General Manager for Transmission, CEB, Mr G M Wijeykone, Additional General Manager for CEB, and a representative from the IOM attended the eighth meeting of the Parliament Select Committee on Natural Disasters.

Mr Malith Fonseka, General Manager of the CEB stated that their immediate reaction to the tsunami was to safeguard the Kelanitissa Power Station and disconnect power supply. He said that currently the overwhelming need is to have extensive reinforcement for the new housing and infrastructure. Based on that they have the ability to redraw power lines.

Mr Kirthi Jayawardena, Additional General Manager for the Generation Sector, CEB spoke on the gravity of a dam failure and the need to safeguard it. He said that priority should be given to having a Reservoir Dam Conservation Project in order to prevent such a disaster from occurring. Speaking on behalf of the CEB, he said that they have laid down procedures whereby they warn people living in vulnerable areas about when there is a threat. However, the system is localized.

Mr Anil Obeysekera, Chairman of SLT, said that although they had a warning system in place, their system was not built to cope with a disaster in the proportions of this tsunami. All the equipment and the SLT buildings were affected in the coastal areas of the country, in many cases they were washed away. Although their system was paralyzed, they reconnected telephone lines within four days. He also stated that SLT was capable of providing telecommunication facilities to affected areas now.

Mr Chandrasena Maliatta, Deputy Chairman of SLT emphasised the need to separate risk management and disaster management, and also to have an emergency system in place to warn the public of a disaster.

Dr Hans Wijayasuriya, CEO of Dialog, represented the private sector at the hearings. He said that if a disaster is localized, his mobile company immediately blocks the phone lines so the emergency services get priority. During the recent tsunami, both SLT and Dialog did not do this on humanitarian grounds. He recommended use of mobile networks as a tool to warn people of an impending disaster and that public education was key in this regard. He also stressed the need to have a responsible source of authorization for the required information to be disseminated.