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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference -
C.O.882/1
| ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE
| COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
| PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
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3. We have no hesitation in deciding that our recommendation should be in the negative. We have set out in greater details our reasons for this decision in an appendix to this letter. We are of the opinion that the La Nicoliere works cannot justify themselves as a commercial proposition, and we consider that there is only too much reason to fear that, at least in present conditions, the return may not even equal the cost of maintenance.
4. The advances which have been made for the completion of La Nicoliere amounted, up to the end of August, 1931, to Rs.1,425,202, to which must be added Rs.83,000 for unpaid bills on account of land already occupied and used, approximately Rs.100,000 for work which must be done on the canal to prevent it being a cause of damage to private property, and less than Rs.20,000 for establish- ment and contingency charges which will be incurred while that work is being carried out. The total charge for which resources must be found is Rs.1,625,000, or may be less. Basing our recom- mendation on the view that La Nicoliere cannot be a profitable undertaking and that the work should be closed at the earliest possible moment, we cannot think that it would be financially sound to take a new loan for £125,000 and to add the cost of this loan to the loan charges already met by the Colony, if it is possible to avoid this. Before additional sums are borrowed we feel that it is natural to look to the existing reserves of the Colony.
5. From the information which we have obtained such reserves are still available. The recorded assets include a large sum on account of the loan raised under Ordinance No. 41 of 1922. The actual balance unexpended of this loan has been reported to us as Rs.1,907,687. The budget of the present year provides for a further expenditure of Rs.299,215 on account of the sewerage of Port Louis and workmen's dwellings, for which this loan was originally taken. Two months' expenditure has already been incurred, and is taken into account in arriving at the above figure of unexpended balance.
We have, moreover, been informed that the total expenditure under the sewerage scheme will not exceed Rs.4,000,000, so that a saving of Rs.1,000,000 may safely be expected. The diversion of Rs.1,000,000 would, therefore, not in any way jeopardize the steady progress of the sewerage scheme, for several years to come, at the same rate as in the past, or its eventual completion.
6. We therefore do not hesitate to recommend that steps should now be taken to divert Rs.1,000,000 from the unexpended balance of the loan for the part payment of La Nicoliere advances. The balance of the advances together with such further expenditure on the scheme as may be inevitable to avoid damage during heavy rain
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-a point to which we have referred in more detail in the appendix to this letter--can be met by a further appropriation from the Improvement and Development Fund. It follows, therefore, that we recommend that no part of the sum of £175,000 should be allocated at present to meet any existing charges. It would indeed seem possible that the borrowing of this portion of the Hurricane Loan may be entirely avoided.
We have, etc.,
Appendix.
FINANCIAL COMMISSIONERS.
Minute on La Nicoliere Irrigation Scheme.
The history of the inception, development and modification of the La Nicoliere irrigation scheme has been recorded in detail on several occasions, and it is not necessary for the Financial Commission to repeat it.
The present position is as follows:-
The total expenditure up to the 31st October, 1930, was Rs.6,327,514; we note that the figure given in Appendix 5 of the Mauritius Estimates for 1991-32 namely Rs.5,501,579, is incorrect, and consequently mis- leading, for it does not include the cost of the actual dam at La Nicoliere and some of the earlier charges.
The estimate for the completion of what is described as the reduced scheme, after 31st October, 1930, is Rs.998,000, so that the total estimated cost of the scheme stands at Rs.7,325,000. The actual pay- ments made by the Colonial Treasury have been Rs. 5,336,000 from loan funds and Rs.1,425,202 by advances paid up to the end of August, 1931. On the estimated cost a further bill of Rs.563,798 will have to be met to complete the reduced scheme.
2. The work is divided into three sections, the La Nicoliere dam which, owing to the small catchment area of La Nicoliere itself, can provide water for little more than 300 arpents; the long-feeder canal between Midlands reservoir and La Nicoliere which crosses several rivers draining an area where there is a heavy rainfall, so that it is estimated that from the catchment area of the canal alone water will be obtained sufficient to irrigate 1,700 arpents; and, finally, the Midlands reservoir itself which, when the reduced scheme is completed, could provide water for the irrigation of 1,000 arpents. The total supply which will be available under the reduced scheme has been estimated at 9,000,000 cubic feet, which is now held to be sufficient only for the irrigation of 3,000 arpents.
3. Not the least remarkable feature of this project has been the fact that it was originally designed on the calculation that 150,000 cubic feet in the year would be sufficient for the irrigation of one arpent, and is now On a calculation of 300,000 cubic feet per arpent. being completed on reading Mr. Harriott's calculation by which he estimates the amount of water which would be required to supplement rainfall, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that so theoretical and arithmetical a calculation could not be a satisfactory basis for a practical scheme of irrigation; the estimate for water required per arpent has now actually been doubled; on the other hand the figure of 300,000 cubic feet per arpent may be correct, but is not convincingly established, and the result of applying so much water
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