§ 76. Lieut.-Colonel Corbettasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies the amount of cocoa exported from the Gold Coast in 1938 and 1945; what quantity he estimates will be exported in 1946; and what proportion of the 1946 crop will be wasted or destroyed owing to lack of transport facilities.
Mr. Creech JonesExports of cocoa from the Gold Coast in 1938 amounted to 257,000 tons. Nearly all the 1944–45 crop, amounting to 228,000 tons, was exported in 1945. The 1945–46 crop is
306Wtraders, or have obtained employment for themselves. I am not aware that there is any avoidable delay in the release of West Africans according to the programme laid down, and I do not consider that a special examination of the administrative machinery of the West African Governments is required.
The following are the available figures:
209,000 tons, all of which will be exported in 1946. No cocoa has been wasted or destroyed through lack of transport or for any other reason within the control of the authorities either this year or in other recent years.