§ SIR HENRY FOWLER (Wolverhampton, E.)To ask the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether a casino has been built on ground formerly part of the old English cemetery at Corfu, and whether gambling will be allowed in such casino ; whether the old cemetery consisted of a piece of land 350 yards by 120 yards, and that this land has been conceded to the Greek Government in exchange for a piece of land ninety yards by sixty yards; and, if so, what were the reasons for this exchange.
(Answered by Earl Percy.) The old British cemetery is being laid out as a garden, and no casino will be built on the site. Gambling is forbidden by Greek law. The main reason for ceding the old cemetery was that it occupied a very central position, and was a serious obstacle to the extension and embellishment of the town of Corfu. The area of the old cemetery is approximately 197 by sixty-seven yards. A space of some 1090 100 by thirteen yards has been provided in the new cemetery for the re-interment of the remains transferred from the old. A further space of about eighty-two by eighty-two yards is available for future British burials, and in addition a strip of land amounting to 750 square yards has been ceded by the municipality in case further space is required. It is estimated that the new cemetery is of sufficient extent to provide for all interments for nearly a century to come.