§ 8. Mr. Wallasked the Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations what attempts are being made to introduce light industries into Basutoland, in particular, in the Maseru area.
§ Mr. AlportI would refer my hon. Friend to my reply to the hon. Member for Rugby (Mr. J. Johnson) on 30th April. The report of the preliminary survey is still awaited. In the meantime two small establishments, one producing soft drinks and the other producing building materials, have been established in the Maseru area.
§ Mr. WallWould not my hon. Friend agree that a firm establishing itself in this area can look to the whole of South Africa as a market and not merely to 1368 the restricted area of Basutoland? Will he do as much as possible to advertise that fact in order to attract important light industries to this area?
§ Mr. AlportI think that there are great advantages for any industry coming to this area, although at present there are also certain difficulties. I can assure my hon. Friend that we are most anxious to do anything we can to develop the economic resources of Basutoland—both industrial and other resources.
§ Mr. J. JohnsonIs it not the fact that there is a demand for blankets by Africans from all over the Territory? Would not the hon. Gentleman consult the C.D.C. with a view to establishing a blanket mill on the same lines as the mill operating successfully at Blantyre-Limbe in Nyasaland?
§ Mr. AlportIt is largely a question of local economics, but when I was in South Africa I had the opportunity of talking to a representative of the C.D.C. regarding this project and I asked that the Corporation should look at it sympathetically when it had the opportunity to do so.