§ Lord APSLEYasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he is aware that the sanitary condition of Singapore and other towns in the Straits Settlements and Malaya needs very great improvement; and whether the local governments are taking any action in this direction?
§ Mr. AMERYThe improvement of the sanitary condition of Singapore and other towns in Malaya as of other places in the tropics is by no means an easy task. The problems are receiving the continuous attention of the local Governments, the Medical Departments of which contain separate Health Branches staffed by fully qualified medical officers. In Singapore itself an Improvement Trust has recently been established (by Ordinance 10 of 1927) and is receiving substantial financial assistance from the Colonial Government. In the Federated Malay States Health Boards, under the supervision of a Central Board, are being established in the principal areas, under the Health Boards Enactment, 1926. References to these matters will be found in the recently published Report of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for the Colonies on his visit to Malaya, Java and Ceylon.