Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the Chunnakam power plant complex on the water supply in northern Sri Lanka; and whether he has taken recent steps with his international counterparts to help (a) support the health of citizens affected by water contamination, (b) improve accessibility to clean water for citizens in Sri Lanka and (c) tackle the environmental impact of the water pollution.

The UK has raised the issue of water contamination caused by the Chunnakam Power plant with the Government of Sri Lanka on numerous occasions. A number of public bodies in Sri Lanka have conducted tests and compensation has been offered to those affected. The then Minister responsible for Sri Lanka, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, raised this issue with the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to the UK in December 2020. Lord Ahmad also made pollution and environment protection a key theme of his visit to Sri Lanka in January 2022, following the X-Press Pearl container ship disaster response.