Ministry clarifies: no water tax on households

The Irrigation and Water Resources Management Ministry yesterday denied a news report that it intends to impose a tax on water wells used for domestic and irrigation purposes.

The ministry in a release said its attention has been drawn to a report on imposing a tax on water and views expressed by the public.

The ministry release said: “Our ministry is of the opinion that certain facts of that news report needs to be corrected and also it needs further clarification.

“First, it has to be explained that underground water deposits is an invaluable resource to Sri Lanka and it is our duty and as well as a prime responsibility to protect the resources for the future generation.

“Since it has been realised that over-utilising these underground water resources in an indiscriminate and improperly manner could create severe problems in the future, the Water Resources Board has initiated a discussion to control the use of this resource.

“At the moment, a large quantity of underground water is used mainly for business and industrial purposes and therefore, it was decided to measure the amount of underground water used for such purposes. Accordingly, it was suggested to register business premises which obtain underground water and impose a levy on such premises to cover up the cost incurred for measuring the water they may use.

“The Water Resources Board has confirmed that these suggestions are still being discussed at Board level and no final decision has been reached.

The Board also informs that no Cabinet paper has been prepared or presented in this regard. It also states that once suggestions are finalised, they will be presented to Irrigation and Water Resources Management Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva for his approval. “The Board insists that this monitoring mechanism will be implemented only in respect of industrial and business premises which use underground water at a largescale.

Therefore, the ministry reiterates that it has no any intention to impose a tax on wells, either surface or underground, belonging to individuals or society based organisations - used for domestic or agricultural purposes.

We would like to clarify that through this suggestions, that Water Resources Board has only paid its attention to protect the underground water resources and it does not intend either to merchandise the water or impose tax on water.”