§ 2.57 p.m.
§ LORD HAILEYMy Lords, I beg to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ With reference to the recent announcement regarding the project for the installation of a hydro-electric station on Lake Victoria, to ask His Majesty's Government for information as to the terms on which the Egyptian Government are being associated with this scheme, and the extent to which their association will give them any power to control the type of installation or the manner in which the power developed by it will be utilised.]
§ THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR COLONIAL AFFAIRS (THE EARL OF LISTOWEL)My Lords, His Majesty's Government have been pleased to learn that the Egyptian Government have indicated their agreement in principle to participate in the comprehensive schemes for the utilisation of the waters of the River Nile, including the installation of a hydro-electric power station at the Owen Falls in Uganda. Details of this and other projects to be executed on the White Nile have been discussed by technical experts from Egypt, the Sudan and Uganda. The scheme for the utilisation of the waters of the Blue Nile is, of course, of great interest to Ethiopia, on whose co-operation the success of the project must depend, and His Majesty's Government look forward to the participation in this 1078 great undertaking of the Ethiopian Government, and also of the Belgian Government, whose agreement has still to be sought.
As the noble Lord will understand, the exact manner in which it is hoped that the Governments concerned will participate remains to be worked out. It must in any case be a matter of some months before construction work on the hydro-electric installation at Owen Falls can begin. Preliminary planning has, of course, been taking place. The generation, transmission and distribution of hydro-electric supplies within the Uganda Protectorate will be the sole responsibility of the Uganda Electricity Board, recently constituted for this purpose by the Government of Uganda. The power thus made available will be used for the considerable industrial expansion contemplated in Uganda, including that of the sugar and cotton industries and a cotton textile industry.