HC Deb 26 July 1950 vol 478 cc62-3W
111. Sir G. Jeffreys

asked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he will make a statement showing the progress which has been made in re-settling Jamaican ex-Service men under the Jamaican Government revised re-settlement scheme.

Mr. J. Griffiths

The arrangements made for settling on the land Jamaican ex-Service men of the First World War have recently been reviewed by a local Committee, and I have received from the Governor a statement of the Jamaica Government's policy in this matter, which I give below. Over 1,200 ex-Service men of the last War have been allotted land under the re-settlement scheme adopted in 1946.

The following is the statement: The Jamaican Government have carefully considered the Report of the Committee under the Chairmanship of the Honourable Major A. G. Curphey, M.C., M.B.E., appointed to review the arrangements made for the settling on the land of ex-soldiers who served in the 1914–18 War. The Committee found that a large percentage of the lots in question had proved unsuitable, for different reasons, for successful cultivation, and they suggested that, where possible, transfers should be effected to more suitable holdings. At the same time, the Committee has emphasised the difficulties of solving this question after the expiration of so many years, bearing in mind the present ages of the ex-soldiers in question and the fact that, even under the most favourable conditions, it would not be possible now for the majority of them to develop improved holdings satisfactorily The Committee also recommended that special consideration should be given to those men who are physically unable, through old age or infirmity, to cultivate their holdings. While fully appreciating the difficulties with which many of the ex-soldiers in question have been faced, the Jamaican Government have decided with regret that, in view of the financial implications involved, it is not possible for them to accept an obligation to work out a new scheme to assist men who left the Services in most cases more than 25 years ago. The House of Representatives has, however, approved the supplementary expenditure of a sum of £2,000 to increase the grant to the Central Supplementary Allowance Committee in order to assist in affording relief to those men who are physically unable through old age or infirmity to cultivate their holdings.