We are aware of the challenges Sri Lanka faces around water management and quality. Staff at the British High Commission in Colombo raise the issue of water quality in northern Sri Lanka regularly, including during a recent visit to Jaffna in August.<\/p>
We understand that compensation has been offered to those affected by water pollution caused by the Chunnakam Power plant. We hope that the settlement will be adequate compensation for the victims of contamination, and that measures are taken to ensure clean water.<\/p>
A number of public bodies in Sri Lanka including the national water supply and drainage board have conducted tests and further investigations into the contamination are ongoing.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4053", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mrs Heather Wheeler"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "South Derbyshire"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Mrs Heather Wheeler"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2019-11-05", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "groupedQuestionUIN" : {"_value" : "7029"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2019-11-05T08:30:34.827Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "16"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Foreign and Commonwealth Office"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Foreign and Commonwealth Office"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2019-10-29", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Sri Lanka: Power Stations"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the water pollution in Northern Sri Lanka caused by the Chunnakam power plant, what steps his Department has taken to help secure an independent international investigation into the (a) effects and (b) impact of that water pollution on the community resident in that area.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/151", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Tom Brake"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Carshalton and Wallington"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Tom Brake"} ], "uin" : "7030"} ], "itemsPerPage" : 10, "page" : 0, "startIndex" : 1, "totalResults" : 1, "type" : ["http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#ListEndpoint", "http://purl.org/linked-data/api/vocab#Page"]} }