Dr. MORGANasked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies what arrangements have been made with 2174W Imperial and International Communications for the provision of daily telegraphic news bulletins for Jamaica and the rest of the British West Indian Colonies, respectively; what is the cost of telegraphic news services chargeable to the various Colonies in the group; and what payments were made or charged against the various West Indian Colonies for telegraphic news services, either direct or by way of increasing the deficits of the company for which they were responsible from 1924 when the new cables were laid and wireless systems were installed under the management of the Pacific Cable Board until the sale of the system to the Communications Company in 1929?
§ Dr. SHIELSUnder the agreement for the purchase of the Pacific Cable Board's undertaking in the West Indies, Imperial and International Communications, Limited, are under an obligation to provide free of charge a news service, not less extensive than that previously supplied by the Direct West India Company and the Pacific Cable Board, to the West Indies (excluding Jamaica) and British Guiana. Under a separate agreement annual payments of £2,000 and £120, respectively, are made for a news service by Jamaica and the Turks and Caicos Islands. In the case of Bermuda a payment of £400 per annum is made to the company by a local newspaper, which distributes the news. Imperial and International Communications, Limited, have submitted proposals with regard to their services which are under consideration. During the period 1924–1929 the arrangement was that the Pacific Cable Board, as managers of the West Indian Cable, distributed a news service supplied by the Direct West India Company. For this service the Direct West India Company received from the Pacific Cable Board a payment of about £2,400 per annum. As the West Indian service was worked at a loss, this sum formed part of the deficit, to which the following West Indian Governments contributed, in the proportions laid down in the schedule to the West Indian Islands (Telegraph) Act, 1924: Trinidad, British Guiana, Barbados, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, St. Kitts-Nevis, Antigua and Dominica. In the case of Jamaica, Turks and Caicos Islands and Bermuda, the existing arrangements were in force.