HC Deb 20 April 1950 vol 474 cc289-90
1. Mr. John Grimston

asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations when agreement is expected on the timing of the scheme to generate electricity on a large scale at the Kariba Gorge on the Zambezi.

The Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations (Mr. Gordon-Walker)

The Governments of Southern Rhodesia and Northern Rhodesia appointed, in 1946, an Inter-Territorial Hydro-electric Power Commission whose duties included the establishment of the necessary facts to determine whether it would be possible to obtain hydro-electric power from the Zambezi River near the Kariba Gorge. A considerable amount of hydrological data has now been collected and is being submitted to a panel of consultants, who will report to the Commission on the practicability of a hydro-electric power scheme. This report is not expected for some months, and, thereafter, the Commission must present its own report and recommendations to the two Governments.