§ Mr. MANDERasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, the position with regard to the Lake Tsana dam project; and whether he is satisfied that the interests of the Sudan will be properly protected?
Mr. A. HENDERSONAs the result of negotiations which have been proceeding at Addis Ababa for the past two months between the Ethiopian Government, the Irrigation Adviser to the Sudan Government and Mr. Lardner of the White Corporation, an agreement has been reached whereby the engineers of the White Corporation will undertake on the spot an examination of the work contemplated at Lake Tsana, and of the proposed road from Addis Ababa to the lake. Discussions between the three parties will be resumed after the receipt of the engineers' report. Until I have received the texts of the notes which have been exchanged with the Ethiopian Government confirming this agreement, I am not in a position to make a statement 2153W on the subject. These notes will be published in the Treaty Series of Parliamentary Papers and registered with the League of Nations in accordance with the usual practice. The hon. Member may rest assured that the interests of the Sudan have been fully safeguarded, since the Sudan Government's Irrigation Adviser took part in the negotiations.