§ 16. Mr. McLarenasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will make a statement on the strike and the present situation in the Gambia.
§ Mr. Iain MacleodA claim for an increase in the basic pay of daily-rated workers by 4s. 6d. a day was presented in the joint industrial councils on 14th January. The Gambia Workers Union demanded an immediate settlement and from 21st January until the 27th a widespread strike of daily-rated labour took place. Return to work followed an informal agreement by the commercial firms to grant a wage increase of 8d. a day for daily-rated labour. This has since been agreed by the joint industrial councils affecting commercial and Government labour. The situation is now calm.
§ Mr. McLarenDo not these incidents show the need to renew the study of the economic destiny and viability of the Gambia in the modern world?
§ Mr. MacleodThat is a very wide question, but of course it is so. The Gambia is a peculiarly difficult problem to solve and there may well have been some political element in this particular occurrence.
§ Mr. MarquandIs the Colonial Secretary aware that some of us who have been in the Gambia recently feel that a great deal more can be done by this country aiding the Gambia economically 197 so that it can face the question of its future with more confidence? I know that it is difficult for the right hon. Gentleman, but could he find a little more time to study the problem himself?
§ Mr. MacleodYes, I have been doing that. I have recently seen the Governor and Ministers from the Gambia, but economic help, of course, does not remove the fundamental difficulty of what in a sense—looking at it geographically—is an anomaly on the West Coast of Africa, and it is a very difficult problem to solve.