§ 19. Mr. Wolrige-Gordonasked the Minister for Overseas Development if he will publish the advice which he gave to the Government of Malawi about their proposals to move the capital to Lilongwe, to build a road along the lake-shore from Fort Johnston to Karonga, and to link the railway system to the Mozambique State Railway system with a view to using the port of Nacala.
§ Mr. Wolrige-GordonIs the Minister aware that that certainly seems to conflict with what Dr. Banda is reported to have said in the Parliament in Malawi? Is there not a danger that we have lost out in good will, and possibly contracts, as well, through our apparent disinterest in this particular proposition?
§ Mr. OramI think some confusion may have arisen in the mind of the hon. Member. An independent mission in 1965 recommended that the Malawi Government's proposal to build a new capital should be postponed, but that was not advice given by Her Majesty's Government, although I think it is known that we agree with the recommendation in the mission's report.
§ Mr. James JohnsonDoes not my hon. Friend think that this is not merely an endemic but a mischievous question since Northern Mozambique is in the hands of guerillas the Frelimo, and it takes the Portuguese 47,000 soldiers to hold down the two Northern provinces? Is this not so?
§ Mr. OramI shall not comment on the supposed implications of that question. All I would say is that the developments referred to in this Question are matters for the Malawi Government.