§ Covering North Borneo, Sarawak and Brunei.
§ (a) Following the report of the War Damage Claims Commission, covering claims for war damage in North Borneo, Sarawak and Brunei, the Governments of these territories submitted to the Secretary of State and to the Commissioner-General the outlines of a scheme of compensation in respect of those claims, which would, it was hoped, alleviate hardship and assist in the rehabilitation of industries and persons concerned. It had stated in 1942 that it would be the general aim of His Majesty's Government after the war, with a view to the well-being of the people and the resumption of productive activity, that property and goods destroyed or damaged in the Colonial Empire should be replaced or repaired to such an extent and over such a period of time as resources permit. It was added that if the resources of any part of the Colonial Empire were in sufficient to enable this purpose to be achieved without aid, His Majesty's Government would be ready to give what assistance they could in conjunction with such common fund or organisation as could be established for post-war reconstruction. In accordance with that undertaking, His Majesty's Government has now agreed, subject to Parliamentary approval, to assist the three Governments to finance a scheme of compensation estimated to cost 17,000,000 dollars (about £1,983,333) in all by way of
- (i) free grants to the Government of North Borneo and Sarawak totalling 7,000,000 dollars (about £816,666) and
- (ii) interest-free loans up to a maximum of 10,000,000 dollars (about £1,166,666) in all, to
134 the extent that the Governments concerned are unable to finance from their own resources the balance of the expenditure.
§ A final allocation of the grant of 7,000,000 dollars (about £816,666) between North Borneo and Sarawak will have to await the completion of the scheme, but a provisional allocation is 5,000,000 dollars (£583,333) for North Borneo and 2,000,000 dollars (about £233,333) for Sarawak; and interest-free loans up to a maximum of 6,400,000 dollars (about £746,666) for North Borneo, 2,700,000 dollars (about £315,000) for Sarawak, and 900,000 dollars (about £105,000) for Brunei.
§ (b) The Governments concerned propose as soon as possible to issue jointly a White Paper giving information regarding the claims received and the proposed basis of compensation.
§ Announcements, in terms similar to this statement, are being made by the Government of the territories concerned on 15th December by agreement with His Majesty's Government.