Today marks the second day that members of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) Union Collective have been on strike against proposals to privatize the CPC.
The Collective’s Chairman, Jagath Wijegunawardena, announced that today’s meeting will focus on the best course of action.
He added that it was sad that the Cabinet had authorized the transfer of state-owned fuel stations to foreign companies.
Yesterday (27), at 7:00 am, the Union Collective of the CPC delegates went on strike in protest of the CPC’s planned privatization.
Currently, the CPC is a state-owned business that is profitable. The organization, which controls more than 600 petrol stations, is being tried to be sold to a foreign private firm, according to Jagath Wijegunawardena.
Kanchana Wijesekera, the minister of power and energy, revealed yesterday that the Cabinet has given three foreign companies permission to enter Sri Lanka’s retail petroleum sector.
As part of a partnership with Shell Plc to enter the fuel retail business in Sri Lanka, Minister Wijesekera said that authorisation had been given to award licenses to Sinopec of China, United Petroleum of Australia, and RM Parks of the United States.
He added that each of the 150 dealer-operated fuel stations, which are currently run by the CPC, will be given to the three firms. He also said that they would each receive a 20-year operating license to import, store, distribute, and sell petroleum products in Sri Lanka.
Each chosen company will build 50 additional fuel stations at new places, Minister Kanchana Wijesekera added.
