§ Mr. Dalyellasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on his current talks with the United States Government about Diego Garcia and Diego Garcians.
§ Mr. EnnalsMatters relating to Diego Garcia are the subject of continuing exchanges with the United States Government. However, the transfer of the former contract workers from the Chagos Archipelago was not their responsibility.
§ Mr. Dalyellasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what inquiries Her Majesty's Government are making about displaced Diego Garcians.
§ Mr. EnnalsThe British High Commission in Port Louis discussed resettlement plans for the workers transferred from Diego Garcia with the Mauritian Government on several occasions during 1974 and 1975 and I also discussed the question with the Mauritian Prime Minister on 24th September.
§ Mr. Dalyellasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what complaints were received by the British Government in the years 1968 to 1975 from British citizens in Diego Garcia that they were being deprived of home and livelihood by Government action.
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§ Mr. EnnalsNone.
§ Mr. Dalyellasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the circumstances leading to the closure of the school in Diego Garcia.
§ Mr. EnnalsI understand that this school was run by the company operating the copra plantations on the island. There ceased to be a need for it when the workers and their families were transferred.
§ Mr. Dalyellasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what clearance costs for Diego Garcia were paid by the American Government to the British Government.
§ Mr. EnnalsThe United States Government agreed in 1966 to provide up to a maximum of £5 million towards the costs of establishing the British Indian Ocean Territory which have to date amounted to about £11.2 million.
§ Mr. Dalyellasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what consideration the British Government are giving to the possibility of setting up a co-operative for Diego Garcia on Agalega Island; and what estimate is available of copra production on such an atoll.
§ Mr. EnnalsAgalega island is part of Mauritius. It is for the Mauritian Government, with the assistance Her Majesty's Government have agreed to provide, to evolve an acceptable scheme for the resettlement of the islanders within Mauritian territory. We have no estimate of potential copra production in Agalega.
§ Mr. Dalyellasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what comparative study is being done between the austere communications facility at Diego Garcia and the base at Okinawa.
§ Mr. EnnalsNone of which I am aware.
§ Mr. Dalyellasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what offset arrangements exist between the British and United States Governments in relation to research and 640W development costs on Great Britain's Polaris missiles and American use of Diego Garcia Atoll.
§ Mr. MasonI have been asked to reply.
The United States Government agreed in 1966 to contribute half of the total cost, up to a limit of £5 million, of setting up the British Indian Ocean Territory by waiving to that extent research and development surcharges for the United Kingdom purchase of the Polaris missile system.