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However, the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) has not taken any decision so far to resort to power cuts as a measure to face the present power crisis. "We urge the public to minimise consumption and avoid wastage of electricity in order to provide an uninterrupted supply of electricity," said the Media Coordinator of the CEB. The generation of hydro electricity has dropped to six million units. Nine million units of thermal electricity were generated yesterday, as an alternative to the current power crisis. The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) is ready to accept a short-term increase in the electricity tariff, which will be less damaging than power cuts. "The private sector will however resent and disapprove of this measure unless it is strictly of a temporary nature and is accompanied by meaningful steps taken within an acceptable set of time frames," Chandra Jayaratne, Chairman of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce stated in a letter sent to President Kumaratunga. He also said, "If power supplies are curtailed, it would severely affect business organizations in meeting their production targets and fulfilling export orders with a knock-on effect on the GDP and investments." One of the main requests made by the private sector is the setting up of the proposed coal fired power plant in Norochcholai, in North Western Sri Lanka. The project has not got off the ground due to public protests. Protesters led by religious leaders and Catholics in the area have asserted that the proposed project could severely erode the coastline posing a threat to the Church of St. Anne on the beach at Thalawila, a popular shrine 9km north of the proposed site.
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