§ Mr. Priceasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether any survey has been made on the possibilities of constructing a railway to open up the interior of British Guiana; if so, whether such survey has disclosed the possibility of settlement in the interior; and whether any further steps are being taken to investigate these possibilities in greater detail?
Mr. MacDonaldYes, Sir. The question of the construction of a railway into the interior was the subject of a report by an engineer specially appointed for that purpose in 1927. He came to the conclusion that there was no demonstrable need or justification for a railway at that time or in the immediate future. As regards the second and third parts of the question, the possibility of the development of the interior of British Guiana has been considered on more than one occasion in the past. I would invite the hon. Member's attention to paragraph 335 of the Report of the West Indian Sugar Commission of 1930, where it is stated420W that sufficiently comprehensive surveys of the interior have been made to enable competent and responsible witnesses to assert with confidence that, except in certain areas for the production of cattle, the interior of British Guiana nowhere offers any encouraging prospect for agricultural settlement.