§ Mr. Pearsonasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if any concerted action is being taken to clear the Kiru Valley area, Tanganyika, of the Tsetse fly; and is it expected that the removal of settlers from the area will be of a prolonged duration.
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§ Colonel StanleyA serious outbreak of Rhodesiense sleeping sickness occurred in 1944 in the Kiru area of the Mbulu district in the Northern Province. After an intensive survey of the affected area by experienced officers of the Medical and Tsetse Departments, the Tanganyika Government were advised that, owing to the distribution of the farms and the general nature of the terrain, it was impossible to devise any scheme for the adequate protection of the Kiru area either by clearing or by other means. It was therefore necessary to order the evacuation of all Africans from the Kiru area and to settle them in the neighbouring Magugu area, in which protective clearing, measures were practicable and were immediately put in hand. The removal of the African population from the area meant that non-native settlers could no longer maintain themselves there, and special facilities were offered to them to take up land in the Magugu area if they wished to do so. The non-native settlement in the Kiru area consisted of three established farms, with a total area of approximately 1,500 acres, and of approximately 12,000 acres of undeveloped enemy-owned property or enemy holdings which had been let out by the Custodian of Enemy Property on short-term leases. No hope can be held out that the Kiru area will again become suitable for settlement within the foreseeable future.