DEVELOPMENT OF WEST INDIES

Press, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 26517, 4 September 1951, Page 3

DEVELOPMENT OF WEST INDIES

Balanced Programme Wanted NEED TO ATTRACT CAPITAL (From the Barbados Correspondent of "The Times.") > U LONDON, July 24. ft.uU® shall hßve to watch very care- > the , Secr etary of State for the Colonies last July, speaking of hpnnfll 8 *!, *w* w °uM permanently benefit the West Indies, “that develop™e„nt J 8 Properly balanced and that the nn^.nj» S f °rced to a point where P d ? ctl \ e development saddles the colonial territories with future commitments which they will be unable to sustain.” „„ Th .® se words seem to express the policy of the Development and Welfare Organisation in the West j ud « e from the recently published report by the year 195 °- Fe w thoughtful West Indians will deny that tne most important problem is to 'ncroase -?* e * ncom e of the West Indies • so that it may be able to sustain the ,„ui!? en * of mu ch-needed social reforms Jl er P e^ua l dependence on the West Indian anxiety to do this is shown by the protracted negotiations bethe British Government and the British West Indies Sugar Association and the latter’s fears concerning the proposed Cuban pact. To the outsider the attitude of the West Indian producer may appear unreasonable. The final British offer has assured the west Indian sugar industry of a measure of security for a number of years and the quota of 900,000 tons |F a hted the West Indians in the British market, leaves room for - cons derable expansion of its previous level of production. If the Cuban agreement is concluded, as Mr Bottomley, the Secretary for Overseas Trade, recently explained to the Regional Economic Committee in Barbados, the United Kingdom will be taking from Cuba only such sugar as the Commonwealth countries, including the British West Indies, are at present unable to supply. ft m ay be that the dissatisfaction of West Indian producers is due not so much to British policy as to the , feeling of uneasiness over their ‘ present economic situation. Sugar is a question of vital importance to the area both as the twin source of revenue and employment. There is a strong feeling that, since the West Indies is restricted from purchasing the manufactured articles it needs from Canada and the United States, Britain should offer a guaranteed price for West Indian sugar over a longer period than has so far been agreed to. The insistent demand for a guaranteed market and better prices also indicates that West Indian producers have heeded Sir Philip Mitchell’s warning that it is idle to talk of colonial welfare unless the prices paid for colonial products make such welfare possible. Importance of Sugar Sugar is still the basis of agricultural economy in the West Indies. Yet the opinion is steadil v gaining ground that concentration on a single crop is a fatal policy in an area where it is estimated that the population, at the present rate of reproduction, will increase by 25 per cent in the next 10 years. There is, therefore, general satisfaction with events and developments in recent months that are calculated to improve the economy of the area. West Indian cocoa among other products, has been able to fetch a greatly increased price. A service of refrigerated ships has begun to carry bananas from Dominica to the United Kingdom and other islands hope to benefit from this facility. Jamaica’s citrus exports to the United Kingdom and New Zealand have greatly expanded and St. Vincent and the Leeward Islands with their sea island cotton, and Grenada, with its cocoa, nutmeg, and mace, have deprived appropriate benefits from improved yields and increased prices. All this is to the good, although it . must ba-admitted...that .sugar still T figures too largely among export crims

and that the progress towards diversifying agriculture is not sufficiently rapid. The mining industries are, of course, 1 quite important to the West Indies as 1 sources of revenue. Since both oil and ■ bauxite had a good year in 1950, Trinidad and British Guiana have benefited in the value of their exports. Jamaica has considerab'e hope of bauxite development but British Guiana was greatly disappointed by the decision of the Anacenda British Guiana Mines, Limited, to discontinue prospecting for gold in the colony. In Trinidad no new source has been discovered, and in Barbados the prope ty in mineral oil had been vested in the i Government. Prospecting and mining rights over 55 per cent, of the island have been offered to the British Union Oil Company—though the offer has not been accepted—and a licence, for the remainder of the island has been granted to the American Gulf Oil Company. These efforts to promote regional economic self-sufficiency are being followed with interest, since the absence of adequate mineral resources is regarded as a serious disadvantage to West Indian development. West Indians have been greatly impressed by the argument adduced in a recent study by Professor Arthur Lewis, of Manchester University, that the creation of new industries is an essential part of a programme for agricultural . development in the area. New Secondary Industries The possibilities of industrialisation have been receiving the attention of Governments and private enterprise and a number of secondary industries have already been established in Jamaica ana Trinidad. A striking project in Jamaica is the new cement factory by which it is hoped to reduce the cost of building in the British Caribbean. Jamaica and Trinidad have enacted legislation to "aid pioneer industries” by granting them concessions through income-tax and Customs reliefs. Similar legislation is being considered in other colonies and the prospects of industrialisation are being carefullv examined, especially in the more thickly congested centres of population. There is a real danger that the colonies might do themselves more i harm than good by competing against ’ themselves in offering easier and ■ easier terms for “pioneer industries,” and to provide against such unwholesome competition the Regional Economic Committee in Barbados has strongly urged that the question should be tackled on a regional basis Since many industrial projects seem to call for a long period of development and require sums of money beyond the resources of capital savings in the West Indies, the British Caribbean obviously needs to attract ’ capital from outside the area. The Colonial Development Corporation has

not vet succeeded in capturing the imagination of the West Indian people, yet the role it can play in the operation of such projects is being slowly recognised in the area. The corporation has undertaken to extract timber on a large scale from the forests of British Guiana and it has also operated schemes for growing anl processing agricultural projects in British Honduras and Dominica. It is also essential to attract private capital from outside the area, and this is emphasised bv those who press for the increased tourist facilities. The expansion of the tourist industry as a source of dollar earnings is given such importance that it has been decided to establish a regional tourist organisation to develop the tourist possibilities of the area.

Population Problem The report of the Evans Commission on the possibility of settling large numbers of people from the West Indian islands on the mainland colonies of British Guiana and British Honduras seemed to offer a hopeful solution of the population problem, and the possibility of opening up the undeveloped sections of these colonies has been discussed. Unfortunately, investigations into the agricultural potentialities in the Potaro and Mazaruni areas in British Guiana have been discouraging. Agricultural projects are being carried forward in British Honduras, but labour requirements both there and in British

Guiana can still be easily met from > the local population. It is hoped that, ; if certain projects are successful, it

may be possible to introduce labour f rom outside British Honduras: but it has become painfully clear that with the rapidly increasing population in British Guiana the full expectations of the Evans Commission will not be realised.

The island territories will thus have to rely almost entirely on their own resources to provide for their people. The easy optimism encouraged by the report of the Evans Commission has been largely dissipated, and in its place there is a sober determination to anpraise resources realistically and oress on with the work of economic development. Besides the obvious need for outside capital, it will also be necessary to introduce industrial and agricultural techniques. Great expectations have been aroused by the nrospect that new sources of technical assistance fnr under-developed areas will be made available under the expanded programme of the United Nations and the Ame’-ican Point-Four Programme. It is still not possible to say when or to what extent these programmes will help the West Indies. Meanwhile, the four member-Governments of the Caribbean Commission have reauested the commission to study and to recommend' the principal fields in which technical assistance projec+s are most urgently needed, and to indicate problems which might be dealt with more effectively and economically by Joint technical assistance and to make recommendations on them.

Th" recent grant of 38,250 dollars of Point-Four funds to the Metronolitan Vocational School of San Juan. Puerto Rico, for vocational training of "itizens of the British. French, and Dutch territories in the Caribbean aims at training those individuals who will be able to make the greatest contribution to the economic development of the area. The request that the Caribbean Commission should sponsor the programme and assist in carrying ’t out makes one hope that the commission will receive substantial help in its purpose to raise the social and economic level of the people of the area by providing technical assistance and guidance in the various fields of economic endeavour.