§ Sir W. de FRECEasked the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will state the number of tenderers for the construction of the Manyoni-Singida railway line in Tanganyika; the amount of the successful tender; the nationality of the tenderer; the amount of the three unsuccessful British tenders approaching nearest to the successful tender; and how many Europeans this scheme of construction is estimated to employ?
§ Dr. SHIELSNo official information has yet been received, but the Governor has reported semi-officially that 25 tenders 907W were received for that part of the construction of the Singida branch which has so far been offered for contract. The work in question consists of the formation and laying of track, erecting bridges and culverts, ballasting, etc., all material being supplied by the Government. The tenders ranged from £236,000, when calculated out on the quantities, to £125,000, the figure quoted by a Greek contractor whose tender has been accepted. Apart from the fact that the offer of one British contractor worked out at £187,000, no information is available as to the unsuccessful tenders, nor as to the number of Europeans whom the project is estimated to employ. The number of man-months employment involved in the manufacture in this country of the material for the branch is estimated at 11,568.