asked the Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations if he can report any improvement in movement of freight at the port of Beira since the visit of our representative; and if he will make a statement.

Yes, Sir. I am glad to say that, as a result of the measures taken by the port and railway authorities in full co-operation with the Portuguese Administration, the congestion of shipping and cargo at the port of Beira has now been satisfactorily cleared up.

Does that mean that long-term plans are now being formulated to increase still further the capacity of the port so that our dollar earning commodities may come out through Portuguese territory?

We are, of course, giving very great consideration to that. The improvement now made at Beira will have a good effect in the future, but unless big structural changes are made the increasing amount of trade will not be able to flow through Beira.

Would my hon. Friend impress upon the Government the need to make these structural changes so that we may have the use of a permanently enlarged port?

I am afraid I do not understand that question. Impress on which Government?

Our Government.

Our Government do not need pressing on the matter.

Mr. Wilson Harris:

Can the Under-Secretary say first whether the Beira railway has sufficient wagons to carry the traffic to the port, and secondly whether negotiations are in progress with the Portuguese Government regarding the future of the railway and the port?

I would not like to say that the railway has sufficient rolling stock. The Rhodesian Railway Authorities are receiving increasing numbers of trucks and wagons which it uses to some extent on this railway, but it is not the only railway with which it has to deal. We have had conversations with the Portuguese Government on this matter.

Could my hon. Friend say whether the Government have considered, or are considering, a project for the making of a railway in British territory instead of in Portuguese territory?

That project has been considered, but, of course, the territory is not British in the sense that it belongs to His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom.