HC Deb 21 June 1982 vol 26 cc17-8
34. Mr. Proctor

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish in the Official Report a detailed breakdown of the £112 million development assistance pledged to Zimbabwe in 1982–83.

Mr. Neil Marten

Yes, Sir.

Mr. Proctor

How far are the Government prepared to go in allowing the Zimbabwe Government to trample on the terms of the Lancaster House agreement and to set up a one-party State before it affects the £112 million worth of assistance?

Mr. Marten

A Bill to amend the constitution, such as I believe my hon. Friend is referring to, requires the votes of not less than 70 per cent. of the Members of the House of Assembly and not less than two-thirds of the Members of the Senate. For seven years from independence representation provisions for the white minority are amendable only by a unanimous vote of the House of Assembly and two-thirds of the Senate.

Mr. Spearing

Is not a significant proportion of that sum of money available for land resettlement? Do the Government believe that land resettlement schemes should be proceeded with as quickly as possible but that money should be invested only in schemes that show promise of permament benefit? Has anything been done to speed up the system either of disbursements from Whitehall or work on the ground in Zimbabwe?

Mr. Marten

We have allocated £30 million to land resettlement. When Mr. Mugabe was here recently we discussed the matter. We have agreed to see whether there is a hold-up at our end and, if so, to be more flexible in getting things moving. I also saw Dr. Chidzero He is to produce a wider plan for land resettlement to include the building of schools, community centres and so on, which will make it more attractive for other donors to tip funds in for land resettlement.

Mr. Brocklebank-Fowler

Will official development assistance be available to help the Zimbabwe Government with the development of Harare airport?

Mr. Marten

We shall always consider propositions that are made to us for the use of our development funds. If we received a proposition with regard to Harare airport, we should examine it to see whether it was developmentally sound.

Following is the information:

Zimbabwe Allocation of £112 million Development Assistance pledged by the United Kingdom since April 1980.
£ million
Land Resettlement 30.0
Training of Zimbabweans 24.7
Reconstruction Programme 12.0
Manpower assistance and consultancy services 10.3
Programme Loan (for purchase of equipment) 10.0
Railway Electrification 8.0
EDF contribution 2.0
Repatriation of Refugees 1.0
Joint funding of projects with voluntary agencies 0.5
For commitment *13.5
112.0
* Of which £5 million is likely to be allocated to further purchases of British equipment and £5 million is provisionally allocated to an agreement covering a number of different development projects.