§ Lord APSLEYasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is aware that the tsetse fly is extending its operations in Tanganyika; and what steps the Government are taking to deal with the serious situation which has arisen?
Sir P. CUNUFFE-LISTERIt is unfortunately true that, in a country the size of Tanganyika, where it is impossible to apply measures of prevention throughout large unoccupied tracts of bush country, the area under tsetse fly tends to spread. I would, however, assure my Noble Friend that the Government are doing everything within their power, not only to prevent such spreading, but to reclaim for cultivation areas already subject to fly. Research into the best methods of combating the tsetse fly menace has been carried on for some years by the Tsetse Research Department, and I would invite attention to the account of this work given on pages 20–25 of the report issued by the Tsetse Fly Committee of the Economic Advisory Council last year. (His Majesty's Stationery Office, No. 63–77 of 1933.) The work of this Department is continuing, thanks largely to a liberal grant from the Colonial Development Fund. As regards actual reclamation of territory by the Tanganyika Administration, I would refer to the Annual Report on Tanganyika for 1932, pages 21–24. Information as to similar work accomplished in 1933 will no doubt be given in the report for that year when published. The Government Medical Department is also, as will be seen from1048W paragraph 140 of the report for 1932, devoting close attention not only to the treatment of sleeping sickness but also to research into the factors influencing its spread.