Power and Energy Minister W D J Seneviratne has unofficially halted the functioning of the three member committee appointed by him to look into the cost of a unit generated by the 300MW Kerawalapitiya gas turbine plant, CEB sources said yesterday.

A senior official told The Island that Minister Seneviratne appointed the three member committee following a number of suspicious components detected in the Power Purchase Agreement between Kerawalapitiya (West Coast Power Plant) and the CEB.

The Management of Lanka Transformers demanded that the minister should immediately stop the three member committee scrutinizing price structure. If it continued, they had warned that commissioning of the plant would be delayed, the sources said.

It is reliably learnt that the capacity charge of a similar private power plant, American owned AES Kelanitissa is only Rs. 2.00 whereas Kerawalapitiya power will cost Rs. 4.80 despite the propaganda claiming that Kerawalapitiya plant would provide electricity an unit at a cheaper rate.