§ Sir W. de FRECEasked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies upon 260W what duties the staff who are available for constructing railways in Kenya Colony, departmentally, have been and are now engaged; whether such duties occupy their full time; and for how long they have been in receipt of salaries?
§ Mr. ORMSBY-GOREThe construction of the new railways in Kenya will be under the general supervision of the general manager of the Uganda Railway. He has drawn salary since the beginning of 1923; he is an official of execptionally wide experience in South Africa, and is, in the opinion of the Governor of the Colony, well able to control construction in addition to his other duties. Actual construction will be in the hands of the chief engineer of the Uganda Railway, an officer of the Royal Engineers, who has during the last two years been seconded from a railway appointment in India. I understand that his energies have not found sufficient scope in the maintenance of the present railway, but he has agreed to remain for a further period in view of the extra occupation which new construction will give him. No doubt a certain number of special temporary appointments will be necessary, and my hon. Friend may rest assured that the interests of the Uganda Railway will not be sacrificed.
§ Sir W. de FRECEasked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies if he is aware that of the only two railways constructed, or being constructed, in Kenya the one built departmentally cost many times the estimated cost, and took more than twice the estimated time to complete; whether he has any information indicating that the one now being built by contract is costing considerably less than the estimated cost, and is likely to be completed at substantially less than the estimated cost and within the contract time; and what are the reasons which caused the decision to construct future railways in Kenya departmentally instead of by public contract?
§ Mr. ORMSBY-GOREThe first railway mentioned by by hon. Friend is presumably the Uganda Railway, which was not built departmentally, but by a special staff working without knowledge of the country and under the control of a Committee sitting in London. As regards the second, the Uasin Gishu Railway, I understand that some considerable economy in cost is assured, and I hope that there 261W will also be some saving in time. But the estimate was prepared at a time when prices of materials and labour were very high, and a great part, at least, of the economy is due to the fall in prices. Fortunately the work was not put out on a fixed price contract and the Government will gain a large part of the benefit of the economies. The reasons for adopting departmental construction for the further railways now contemplated in Kenya are that economy is expected, and that it is considered that the supervising staff available locally is well able to carry the work through.
§ Sir H. BRITTAINasked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies whether, in view of the serious results which attended the construction of the Uganda Railway by administrative action and, more recently, entailed by the works in the Sudan now being carried out by Messrs. S. Pearson and Son after some millions of money had been wasted in the attempt to carry out the work by administrative action, it is his intention further to experiment in the carrying out of work n the Crown Colonies on these lines?
§ Mr. ORMSBY-GOREThe Colonial Office was not concerned in either of the matters referred to by my hon. Friend. In Colonial Office experience departmental construction of railways has proved to be the most satisfactory method. It is not an experiment; indeed, it would be more accurate to say that construction by contract, where it has been adopted, has been an experiment the results of which have not been uniformly successful. I have already made it clear to my hon. Friend the Member for Ashton-under-Lyne (Sir W. de Frece) that no general rule has been or will be laid down.