HC Deb 16 July 1923 vol 166 cc1885-7W
Sir W. DAVISON

asked the Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies what harbour works have been carried out in West Africa within the last 20 years; what is the cost of them; by whom they have been carried out; whether by contract or by the State; and how the final cost in each case accords with the preliminary estimate of what the outlay would be?

Mr. ORMSBY-GORE

For Nigeria, particulars of the more important works are as follow:

  1. (1) Lagos Harbour Entrance Works.—Constructed departmentally under the supervision of Consulting Engineers, Messrs. Coode, Fitzmaurice, Wilson and Mitchell; original estimate submitted in reports during 1906, £897,000; work commenced in 1908 and completed by 31st March, 1923; certain additions were authorised during the process of construction as found advisable; and the total cost of the completed works is £1,229,716; an entrance, very dangerous to ships, of 9–11 feet in depth, has been converted into a satisfactory entrance of 20 feet in depth or more.
  2. (2) Lagos Wharfage Scheme.—Dredging channels in inner harbour, entrance to customs wharf, Five Courie Creek to Apapa, etc.; work done departmentally under supervision of the same consulting engineers; estimated cost as inserted in the loan schedule of 1911, £400,000; work practically completed at a cost of £410,000.
  3. (3) Apapa Wharfage Scheme.—The provision of wharfage accommodation at Apapa; the terminal of the Lagos Railway has proceeded by stages concurrently with the deepening of the entrance to the harbour under the supervision of the same consulting engineers; the earlier stages were constructed departmentally, the present extension is being constructed under contract by Messrs. Armstrong, Whitworth and Company, Limited; the total estimated cost of the works, which are still in progress, is £806,250.
  4. (4) Coal and Kerosene Wharf, Iddo Island.—Constructed departmentally under the advice of the same consulting engineers; original estimate, submitted in 1920, £287,500; work still proceeding.
  5. (5) Port Harcourt Wharfage Scheme.—Being constructed departmentally under supervision of the same consulting engineers; original estimate, 1920, of cost of first instalment of 1,065 feet, £430,000; that instalment is now nearing comple- 1887 tion at a cost considerably below the estimate, the saving being due to the efficiency with which the work has been conducted and the fall in the cost of steelwork in England.

In Sierra Leone an export wharf at Freetown was projected in 1912 at a cost of £172,000 plus the cost of the land.

£70,000 plus £14,000, which proved to be the cost of the land, had been spent when the outbreak of war put an end to the work; since then lack of funds has prevented its resumption. The work was being carried out by Government under the advice of the same consulting engineers.

As regards the Gold Coast, I fear that it will be necessary to refer to the Colony in order to obtain exact figures, and I have telegraphed for them to be supplied.