The national programme titled “Surakimu Lanka”, designed to encourage the public to use energy sparingly, was officially launched today (29).

Its primary objective is to foster a community that carefully conserves energy resources, according to a statement issued by the President’s Media Division (PMD).

The government is implementing the programme, considering potential disruptions to the country’s energy and fuel supply due to the prevailing war situation in the Middle East. It also considers forecasts of possible El Niño weather conditions in the future, the PMD noted.

The government has emphasised the urgent need to utilise state resources with maximum efficiency and transparency and a key expectation of the programme is to directly involve the general public in ensuring national energy security.

Accordingly, the programme is scheduled to be carried out over a period of five months starting from today.

Implemented under the “Clean Sri Lanka” initiative, which is guided by the vision “A Thriving Nation – a beautiful life”, the programme will operate under the theme “Surakimu Lanka – Let’s unite – Let’s Shine Bright”, the PMD stated.

The President’s Media Division said participation is expected from state and semi-government institutions, as well as the private sector, civil society and the general public.

Under the programme, efforts will be made to encourage the public to limit electricity usage during peak hours, from 6.00 p.m. to 10.00 p.m., or to carry out high-energy-consuming activities during daytime as much as possible.

The programme does not intend to impose any restrictions on electricity consumption, according to the PMD.

The programme primarily aims to bring about a change in the attitude of the public towards energy conservation and to encourage voluntary participation in using energy efficiently, the PMD added.