§ Mr. David Adamsasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he is aware of the public demand for general food rationing in Sierra Leone as a means of remedying the grievance that staple foods are not equitably available to all members of the population; and will he examine this problem with a view to introducing this change?
§ Colonel StanleyI understand that requests have been made to the Government of Sierra Leone by certain sections of the community for the introduction of a general system of rationing. These requests have been almost entirely concerned with imported provisions. In the case of imported provisions, the release of stocks held by dealers is controlled by the competent authority, and the quotas released are distributed as equitably as possible by the dealers among their customers. The Colonial Government is at present investigating the possibility of improving this system. In view, however, of the great diversity of diet and essential needs among the various sections of the population, and the impossibility of satisfactory classifying these, it is not considered that a general system of rationing similar to that in force in the United Kingdom would be practicable.