HC Deb 03 March 1959 vol 601 cc206-7
48. Mr. Rankin

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how many applications for land on the shore of the new Kariba Lake have been received by the Kariba Lake Co-ordinating Committee; and, of these, how many are from Africans.

Mr. J. Amery

Twenty-two, none of which is from an African, but it is expected that when the lake is full a number of African villages will move down to the shore.

Mr. Rankin

Do not those figures enforce the view that Africans are now gravely worried by the fact that the new Kariba Lake will become a great commercialised venture for Europeans only in which they will lose existing rights which they may now have in fishing, and so on? Will the hon. Gentleman say whether the fears of the Africans will prove to be true?

Mr. Amery

First, the interests of the Africans are predominent in our mind. Secondly, as I tried to explain in my Answer, we expect that a number of African villages will move down to the shore.

Mr. Rankin

That is not an answer.

49. Mr. Rankin

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies how much Crown Land lies along the shore of Lake Kariba.

Mr. J. Amery

I have consulted the Governor, and when his reply is received I shall circulate the information in the OFFICIAL REPORT.

Mr. Rankin

Why does the hon. Gentleman need to consult the Governor on a matter like this? He has only to look at the map to see that on the north shore there is no Crown land whatsoever. Therefore, the only land which will be lost is the native trust land, the reserve land, which now belongs to the Africans. Is it the case that that land will not pass into the hands of the Europeans in the development of the new Kariba Lake?

Mr. Amery

I am afraid that the hon. Gentleman is misinformed. As I understand it, there is a strip of Crown land on the north bank of the Zambesi which is about ten miles long and two miles deep. I await details of the area upstream from the dam which will be on the shore of the lake. It is because I have not those details yet that I did not want to give the hon. Gentleman a false answer.