PROSPERITY IN SUDAN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20290, 24 December 1927, Page 11

PROSPERITY IN SUDAN

REPORT ON ADMINISTRATION. INCREASED COTTON AREA. IMPORTANCE OF SENNAR DAM. (British Official Wireless.) (Fren Association—By Teles rapfl—Uopyrlgu. RUGBY, December 22 (Received Dec. 23. at 10 p.m.) The annual report on the administration of the Sudan, published to-day, states that the completion of the Sennar dam, which was officially opened in January last year, marked a new era in the development of Sudan. Thanks .to favourable conditions, and goodwill and good work on the part of all concerned, the first year’s results from the cultivation of cotton on a large scale were were highly satisfactory, and the benefits predicted have been fully realised. Labour has presented no difficulty, and the general wellbeing of the natives in the thickly populated Gezira area is manifest. Cultivation and production have been quickened by science to the vast advantage of the natives, but there has been no upheaval of the social system. In a country where the people have had to rely for their sustenance on a capricious rainfall, a guarantee of freedom from the menace of famine is the richest of blessings. Some 50,000 acres of irrigated land were sown in grain, and their harvest made a doubly welcome addition to the food supply in lean years.”

The direct and indirect financial results of the cultivating season covered by the report were thoroughly satisfactory. There was a small actual surplus on the year s working, but the indirect results were even more important, and the report points out that account must be taken of the additional revenue earned by the Government from extra railway traffic, export and import duties, and the trades tax on the syndicate’s profits. The addi tional net revenue accruing in this way probably , amounted to t least 150,000 Egyptian pounds. It is added that the Gezira project in 1926 was an important factor in saving the Government from what would have been a very costly and difficult problem in relieving the famine which otherwise would have occurred.

As regards the future many changes are in sight. For the current season the area under cotton has been increased from 8000 to 100,000 feddans. As regards the more distant future the Government has concluded an agreement with the syndicate to extend the concession are from 300,000 to 465,000 feddans, and ultimately to increase the Government’s share to 40 per cent.