§ Mr. Hendryasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he is aware of the Resolution of the 52nd Conference of the Inter-Parliamentary Union on the subject of the earthquake disaster at Skopje; and what action has been taken by Her Majesty's Government to relieve the sufferings of the victims.
§ Mr. P. ThomasYes. The action taken by Her Majesty's Government to relieve68W the sufferings of the people of Skopje has consisted of:
- (a) an immediate gift of £10,000, made on 29th July;
- (b) a further gift of 44 Nissen Huts transported to and erected at Skopje by the Royal Engineers at a cost of about £15,000;
- (c) a reconstruction loan of £500,000 under Section III of the Export Guarantees Act which is avail able to pay for British goods and equipment;
- (d) payment for the transport to Yugoslavia of goods purchased with private donations. The main item sent in this way is building equipment donated by War on Want. The final cost will be about £35,000.
- (e) Provision of a troop of Royal Engineers to erect Nissen Huts donated by War on Want. The cost to Her Majesty's Government is about £2,000.
Items (b), (c) and (d) represent commitments announced by my right honourable Friend the then Prime Minister on 1st August. £10,000 has been advanced from the Civil Contingencies Fund and further advances will be made as required. Parliament will be asked to reimburse the Civil Contingencies Fund by means of a Supplementary Estimate to the Foreign Grants and Loans Vote.