CONCESSIONS. (Hansard, 30 January 1913)

Mr. HARCOURT

The following concessions in the East Africa Protectorate have received the approval of the Secretary of State during the years 1911 and 1912. Except in four cases, they were transfers or modifications of previous grants, or were referred to me by the Governor for my decision, in view of the area of land already held by the applicants, the power of the Governor to sanction the acquisition of land by an individual, whether acquired by original grant or transfer or both, being limited to a maximum of 15,000 acres.

Leases of land for the cultivation of fibre were granted to Mr. C. Hirtzel, the Deutsche Englische Ost Afrika Company, Mr. F. Shelford, and Mr. G. P. Stevens, on the same conditions in each case. The leases were for twenty-five years at a rent 1525W of £50 a year, for an area of fifty square miles, subject to a royalty on produce.

An agreement was entered into on 26th January, 1911, with Messrs. M. Samuel and Co., in supplement of the original concession of the 20th of September, 1909, for the working of the soda deposits of Lake Magadi. Lake Magadi and an area of about eighteen square miles near the north end of the Natron Lake were leased to this company on the 12th of April, 1911, and a further contract was entered into with the same company on 13th April, 1911, for the construction, maintenance, and working of a railway to the lake as a branch of the Uganda Railway. The land referred to is leased for a term of ninety-nine years, subject to the payment of a royalty of 2s. on every ton of raw soda, and a royalty of 3s. on every ton of soda, soda products, or soda contained in manufactured soda. As regards the railway to the lake, the company is to construct the line at their own expense and equip it with all necessary works, apparatus, and conveniences other than rolling stock necessary for the handling of the traffic. The railway is to be handed over to the Uganda Railway Administration to be worked and maintained in working order, and the Government will provide and maintain all necessary rolling stock.

In March, 1911, an agreement was entered into for the transfer to Voi Plantations, Limited, of the fibre concessions previously held by the London and South African Agency, which had gone into liquidation. The area thus transferred consists of about 200 square miles in the Teita district of the Seejidie Province. The term of the lease is twenty-five years from the 1st September, 1906, the yearly rental is Rupees 3,000, royalties are paid to the Government on all produce of the land leased, and the company is required to expend £5,000 on permanent improvements within five years from the date of transfer.

In May, 1911, approval was given for the transfer of a farm of 5,015 acres held by Mr. A. B. Duirs in the Fort Hall distrist—to Sisal, Limited.

In October, 1911, approval was given for the transfer of 14,000 acres of land held by Messrs. Atkinson Brothers to Lord Cranworth. Of this holding, 5,000 acres had been granted to Messrs. Atkinson Brothers direct by the Crown and 9,000 acres had been purchased from Mr. A. M. Ortlepp.

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In April, 1912, approval was given for the transfer to Mr. W. G. Sewall of a farm of 640 acres at Mazoraz.

In May, 1912, approval was given for the transfer to Mr. McMillan of 6,983 acres at Donyo Sabuk which was held by Mr. J. M. Elkington. In this case a special condition as to development was made, namely, that the land should be developed to the extent of twenty times the rent.

A lease of 30,000 acres of land on the Athi plains has been granted to Mr. E. S. Grogan in exchange for 16,638 acres in the Naivasha Province, which was required for a native reserve. The rental is fixed at ½d. per acre. The term of the lease is ninety-nine years, with revision of rent at the thirty-third and sixty-sixth years. The larger acreage on the Athi plains was granted partly because the land held in the Naivasha Province was of considerably greater value than that now leased, and partly because the original grant was made for a term of ninety-nine years at a fixed rent under the Grown Lands Ordinance, 1902, without any reference to the principle of the revision of rent at stated periods.

In Uganda the following concessions have received the approval of the Secretary of State during the years 1911 and 1912:

A lease of 3,450 acres of forest land near Kampala has been granted to the "H.M. Syndicate" for a term of twenty-one years, at a rental of 10 Rupee cents per acre, with the option of a renewal of the lease for a further term of twenty-one years, at a rental of 75 Rupee cents per acre.

The British East African Corporation, Limited, have been granted a lease of five acres at Jinja for the site of a cotton ginnery, at a rental of £10 per acre for the first three acres, and £20 per acre for the further two acres. The lease is for ninety-nine years, with revision of rent at the thirty-third and sixty-sixth years.

In August, 1911, approval was given for the lease to the British Trading Company (with option of purchase) of 1,000 acres in Busoga. The option to lease an additional area of 4,000 acres was also given to this company at the same time. As regards the 4,000 acres, rental is to be paid at the rate of 10 Rupee cents per acre during the period of the option of the lease, and the purchase price is fixed at Rupees 2 per acre for ordinary land, and at Rupees 15 per acre for forest land, the total area of which is not to exceed 1527W 100 acres. This lease has since been modified in accordance with the approval given in October, 1911, for the purchase by this company of the freehold of one square mile of native-owned land at Ntakafunvu, provided that they forego the option to purchase the freehold of an equivalent amount of the 1,000 acres leased to them in Busoga.

In December, 1911, approval was given for the purchase of the freehold of two areas amounting to 840 acres by the White Fathers Mission.

The Uganda Company which had the freehold of 2,490 acres of land in Buganda have been permitted to exchange this for an equal area in Bukedi in accordance with the approval given in March, 1912. A lease of a further area of 1,510 acres to this company was sanctioned at the same time. The object of the transfer and the further lease was to give the company an area in which to establish a cotton plantation.

In April, 1912, approval was given to certain amendments of the lease of the Nabugulo Forest, held by the Kivuvu (Uganda) Rubber Company, Limited. The original lease was for an area of about 5,126 acres for a term of twenty-one years at a rental of 10 Rupee cents per acre, with option of a renewal for a further term of twenty-one years at a rental of 75 Rupee cents per acre. The modifications in the lease include a reduction of the acreage to about 4,466 acres, with consequential reductions in the rent, survey fees, and minimum expenditure in development, the payment of royalties on timber at 5 per cent, of its value at Nabugulo instead of 5 per cent, of its value at Entebbe, and the right on the part of the company to cut timber for their own use free of royalty up to the amount of the rent paid for their concession.

As regards Nyasaland, arrangements have been approved for the extension of the railway from Port Herald to the Zambesi.

In Nigeria as in the Gold Coast the existence of valuable minerals has necessitated the passing of legislation regulating the conditions under which prospecting and mining may be carried out, and a considerable area is now being worked, especially for tin, under these conditions. Licences to cut timber, under stringent regulations as to replanting, size of trees, etc., are held by a small number of 1528W European firms, but neither these nor the mining rights referred to are generally looked upon as commercial concessions and none of them have required my direct approval.