§ Mr. ORMSBY-GOREasked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs why Sir Murdoch Macdonald, the adviser to the Public Works and Irrigation Department of the Government of Egypt, has resigned his appointment?
Mr. HARMSWORTHSir M. Macdonald resigned when the Egyptian Government found themselves unable to proceed with the White Nile scheme, for which he is responsible. This decision was due not to any technical unsoundness in the scheme, but solely to the fact that the Egyptian Government learnt recently and without timely warning that the cost of the dam and subsidiary works would so greatly exceed the earlier estimates as to place the execution of the project beyond their present financial resources.