To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his counterpart in Sri Lanka on the effect of the Chunnakam power plant complex on Northern Sri Lanka's water supply.
Answered on
25 March 2019
Sri Lanka faces concerns regarding water quality for a number of reasons, including floods and droughts. This is common across the island. The British High Commissioner most recently raised water quality during a visit to Jaffna in June 2018. The Mayor of Jaffna highlighted a number of challenges faced in the north around access to water, but he did not raise the Chunnakam power plant as a concern.
Officials at the British High Commission have subsequently been in touch with the Regional Support Centre (North) of the National Water Supply and Drainage Board, as well as the Director of the Regional Health Service. Neither raised pollution at the Chunnakam power plant as a current concern. We understand that the plant is no longer functioning and that there is a case ongoing to determine whether the plant was responsible for pollution in that area.