§ Mr. Sorensenasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will state the nature of the agreement to be signed and sealed between the Sierra Leone Government and the United Africa Company, Limited; how long the United Africa Company, Limited, have been operating in the Masauki palm plantation; the reason for the transference of the plantation; and whether any returns of the progress of cultivation have been submitted to the Government.
Mr. M. MacDonaldI assume that the hon. Member is referring to the Masanki oil palm plantation in the Sierra Leone Protectorate. The agreement, which is still in draft, is to be in the nature of an agency agreement and to provide that the United Africa Company, Limited, shall operate and manage the plantation on behalf of the Sierra Leone Government. The draft agreement provides that any profits shall be shared equally between the Government and the company and that the Government shall, with certain reservations, guarantee the company against a loss arising from a fall in the prices of palm products below certain specified levels.
2807WThe company were authorised to start operations before the completion of the formal agremeent. The actual date on which operations were started has not yet been reported to me.
As regards the third part of the question, the arrangements contemplated will, it is hoped, result in the estate being put to the use for which it was originally intended, i.e., an object lesson in the application of modern scientific and commercial methods to the cultivation of the oil palm and the preparation of its products.
I am not aware whether any returns of the progress of cultivation have as yet been submitted to the Sierra Leone Government.