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Afghanistan

Volume 479: debated on Monday 21 July 2008

9. What arrangements have been made to ensure the availability of adequate supplies of potable water in Afghanistan for troops. (219815)

The UK has its own water treatment and bottling plant at Camp Bastion, producing significant amounts of drinking water per day from local sources. That water is transported onward to troops in operational locations. In addition, a number of forward operating bases are equipped with their own boreholes. Soldiers are also equipped with water purification tablets to treat local water if necessary when out on patrol.

I thank the Minister for his response. Much has been made of the equipment shortages besetting our armed forces in Afghanistan, and rightly so. Do the Minister and the Secretary of State not agree that the ability to provide adequate supplies of water to service personnel operating in desert conditions is the most basic responsibility and should be taken very seriously by the Government?

I give the hon. Gentleman an absolute assurance that of course that is taken very seriously. It is essential that we have a proper water supply. In fact, when the hon. Member for Westbury (Dr. Murrison) raised these matters with me, I checked up with our people and could find no evidence that people were denied water or were unable to access water. We take the matter very seriously indeed.

The Prime Minister is something of an authority on bottling, so he is no doubt aware that before the commencement of bottling at Camp Bastion the cost of producing a litre of water in theatre was 70p. It is now 22p and is projected to fall to 10p. Geographically displaced bottling plants have the capacity to resolve the recent problems that troops in Afghanistan have had with potable water—an inexcusable failure in the supply chain. I know the Minister, and he is no bottler. What is he doing to ensure that our men and women have a reliable supply of fresh water without having to endure the ill effects of water purification tablets?

It is absolutely a priority for the Government, the Ministry of Defence and the ministerial team to ensure that our people have the water supply they need. Their accessibility to water is very important and we continue to keep the matter under review to ensure that they have a water supply. As I said in my original answer, there is a bottling plant at Camp Bastion that works very well.