85% of Sri Lankan households electrified

Premalal Jayasekara

Sri Lanka Deputy Minister of Power and Energy Premalal Jayasekara says that the electrification of 85 percent of the country has been completed now.

He said that the Ministry has now focused on the electrification of the war-battered areas that are slowly developing now.
The Deputy Minister pointed out that 60 percent of Jaffna district, 37 percent of Mannar district, and 62 percent of Vavuniya district have been electrified now.
The Ministry is conducting electrification projects in Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu districts in the Northern Province with the assistance of Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) aiming to electrify the entire districts by 2012, Deputy Minister Jayasekara said.

According to the Ministry about 4,500 electrification projects have been implemented under the "Vidulamu Lanka" programme and they are to be completed within next four years.

Jayasekara also pointed out that 100 percent of the households in Hambanthota district have now been provided electricity with 95 percent from the national grid and the rest is from alternate methods such as solar power.

The Ministry plans to provide solar panels to the households that do not have access to the national grid.