§ 20. Mr. LUNNasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he can explain the reason why Belo, a headman who had served for 40 years on the Nigerian railways in various capacities, and who was dismissed in December, 1934, on account of old age, was only granted an ex-gratia gratuity of £7 16s., instead of the more considerable sum which previous grants had led him to expect; and whether any further grant will now be made to headman Belo?
Mr. J. H. THOMASThis man wes granted the maximum amount payable to an employé of his status under the procedure in force at the time of his retirement. The answer to the second part of the question is in the negative.
§ Mr. LUNNIf I hand the correspondence dealing with this question to the right hon. Gentleman, will he give it further consideration?
Mr. THOMASCertainly. I looked into it personally, and the difficulty was the question of retrospective payments, but I will certainly look into it again.