§ MR. SCHWANN (Manchester, N.)I beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is aware that the Labugarma main water pipe, which conveys water to the City of Colombo, is insufficiently large for the 1592 needs of the inhabitants of that port; that the Ceylon Government constructed the Colombo Waterworks, and by its Ordinance of 1886 enacted that the Ceylon Government should furnish a continuance supply of drinking water fit for human consumption; is he aware that the Ceylon Government further enacted in Section 10 that, for this construction and maintenance, the Colombo Municipality should pay annually for 35 years a sum of Rs. 130,000 and have the right to levy a water rate; and will Her Majesty's Government now insist that the Ceylon Government should fulfil its contract and lay down any additional piping necessary to furnish Colombo with a sufficient supply of water?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (Mr. S. BUXTON,) Tower Hamlets, PoplarProposals for improving the water supply are now under the consideration of the Secretary of State and the Colonial Government, and will no doubt be shortly carried out.