§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make an estimate of the number of British subjects born in Diego Garcia who are still alive. [157504]
§ Mr. BattleIt is not practicable for HMG to make a realistic estimate of the number of such British Dependent Territories citizens as we do not know where they are nor do we have any means of knowing how many may have died over the past 30 years or so.
§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will discuss with the United States Government the numbers of(a) Filipinos, 390W (b) Mauritians and (c) Ilois being employed by contractors on the Diego Garcia, air-base; and what steps he is taking to rectify imbalances in the numbers of different nationalities employed. [157501]
§ Mr. BattleUnder our arrangements with the United States Government it is agreed that the United States authorities and their contractors will use workers recruited in Mauritius and Seychelles to the maximum extent practicable. In recruiting workers there should be no discrimination between qualified Ibis workers and equally qualified other Mauritian workers.
§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Governor of Mauritius about the placement of anti-personnel mines in(a) Diego Garcia and (b) on 65 islands in the Chagos Archipelago designed to keep out Ilois people wishing to return to see ancestral graves. [157502]
§ Mr. BattleThere are no anti-personnel landmines on Diego Garcia or any of the other islands in the Chagos Archipelago.
I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister for Europe on 6 March 2000, Official Report, column 504W.
§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to include Diego Garcia in the feasibility study in exercise of his Department's obligations to balance the needs of those who were born in Diego Garcia with the interests of the British-American defence forces. [157500]
§ Mr. BattleAccess to Diego Garcia is restricted in accordance with our treaty obligations with the United States and hence Die go Garcia is not included in the scope of the feasibility studies being conducted.
§ Mr. DalyellTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps are being taken to estimate the economic losses suffered by Diego Garcia as a result of the closure by the Government of the plantations in 1971; and what stops will be taken to restore economic activity, indicating(a) the estimated consumption of coconuts by the residents of Diego Garcia, (b) the appropriate price thereof and (c) what funds can be raised from this source to restore facilities on the islands for the benefit of residents. [157574]
§ Mr. BattleThe establishments of defence facilities necessarily entailed the closure of the commercial coconut plantations in Diego Garcia. There is no prospect of the resinstatement of these plantations in the forseeable future.