§ Mr. ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if, pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Basingstoke,Official Report, 29 November, column 671, on aid and trade provision, he will set out the details of the investigation made into the proposed provision of a flight simulator by aeronautical systems designers to the Government of Indonesia to ensure that such technology could not be used to enhance the Indonesian military air force capability to pursue internal repression in (a) Indonesia and (b) in the occupied territories of East Timor.
§ Mrs. ChalkerThe project concerned involves the supply and installation of a flight simulator for training386W pilots of the Indonesian domestic civil airline, Merpati, on a new short haul piston-engined passenger aircraft being manufactured in Indonesia under a joint venture in agreement with a Spanish company. The ODA engaged the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority as its technical adviser on the project.
The flight simulator, like all aircraft simulators currently produced, is designed to be aircraft-type specific. It would be impracticable to convert it for use on an alternative aircraft. Under the terms of the concessional loan which is providing finance for the project, the Indonesian Government have accepted that items purchased under the loan will not be used for military defence purposes.