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Written Answers
Tuesday, 18th March 1997.
East Jerusalem: Landholding Statistics
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What percentage of the land in East Jerusalem was held by (a) Palestinians and (b) the Israeli Government in each of 1967 and 1997.
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Chalker of Wallasey): About 14 per cent. of land in East Jerusalem is currently held by or designated for Palestinians. About 40 per cent. has been expropriated by the Israeli authorities for settlements and roads. About 40 per cent. has been designated as Green Areas by the Israelis, in which development is currently prohibited. About six per cent. is unzoned. These are 1995 figures, extracted from statistics published by Jerusalem Municipality. The Israeli authorities expanded the municipal boundaries of East Jerusalem substantially after the 1967 occupation. No landholding statistics are held for 1967 but most of the land now in East Jerusalem was held by Palestinians or Jordanians at that time.
NATO
Lord Kennet asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they agree with the French Government that it is desirable that NATO Southern Command should sometimes be separated from command of the US Sixth Fleet and be held by a European, or with the United States Government that it is imperative that NATO Southern Command should always be held by an American, and what are their reasons.
Baroness Chalker of Wallasey: I refer the noble Lord to the Answer given by my noble friend Lord Howe on 11 February (col. WA 17).
Lord Kennet asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether NATO's relations with countries of the Mediterranean and Middle East are affected by the United States support of, and collaboration with, Israel's military activities.
Baroness Chalker of Wallasey: The NATO Governments' policy is to pursue a dialogue with Mediterranean countries on military and security matters. This dialogue includes Israel as well as Mauritania, Tunisia, Egypt, Israel and Jordan.
Lord Kennet asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What was the purpose of the recent tour of the Commonwealth of Independent States countries by the Secretary General of NATO, and whether the "pro-NATO" political association newly established
- in Azerbaijan is funded by NATO or by the United States.
Baroness Chalker of Wallasey: Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan participate in Partnership for Peace. The NATO Secretary General visited these countries, at their invitation, in the periods 10-14 February and 10-14 March. NATO does not fund the Azerbaijan-Atlantic Co-operation Association. We have no other information on the organisation's finances.
Lord Kennet asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Which forces participated in the recent Partnership for Peace exercise off the coast of the Crimea, and what political control there is over Partnership for Peace exercises and scenarios.
Baroness Chalker of Wallasey: No Partnership for Peace exercises have taken place off the coast of Crimea.
Political control over the Partnership Programme is exercised within NATO by the North Atlantic Council and the relevant NATO working groups.
Lord Kennet asked Her Majesty's Government:
- What are (a) NATO's and (b) the United States' current roles in Albania, and whether Albanian armed forces have been trained and exercised under Partnership for Peace auspices.
Baroness Chalker of Wallasey: NATO is intensively monitoring the situation in Albania and has urged the parties to cease acts of violence and establish dialogue. The United States has full diplomatic relations with Albania. Albania signed the Partnership for Peace Framework document in February 1994 and since then has participated in various Partnership for Peace activities including multilateral and bilateral exercises.
Dena Import-Export Ltd.
Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether Dena Import-Export Ltd., Reg. No.03041326, and Dena International Trading Ltd., Reg. No.03288410, of Great Cambridge Road,
2 Progress Way, Enfield EN1 and registered address
8-10 Stamford Hill, London N16, went into liquidation in January 1997, and, if so, why; and whether any allegations of, or investigations into, possible malpractice have been made.
The Minister of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Fraser of Carmyllie): Dena Import-Export Ltd. went into creditors' voluntary liquidation on 19 December 1996 but it is not apparent that the company Dena International Trading Ltd. is the subject of any formal insolvency proceedings.
The liquidator of Dena Import-Export is Michael Herbert Hinton of C. Jacobs & Co., 66 Churchway, London NW1 1LT, whose enquiries into the affairs of the company are continuing. Under the Company
Directors Disqualification Act 1986, Mr. Hinton will have a duty to submit a report on the conduct of the directors to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry.Marine Navigation Aids
Lord Brabazon of Tara asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether they will report on the future provision of marine aids to navigation by the General Lighthouse Authorities.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Transport (Viscount Goschen): The General Lighthouse Authorities (GLAs) carried out a consultation exercise during 1996 to determine user views on the future provision of marine aids to navigation. The major proposals, which were supported by respondents, were that the UK should provide a Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS), adopt the Loran C System as provided by the North West Europe Loran C System (NELS) agreement and discontinue the Decca Navigator system and the radiobeacon service as soon as was reasonable. The GLAs proposed to maintain traditional aids to navigation, subject to regular reviews.
We welcome the GLAs' proposals and accept the need to establish a civil marine navigation plan as a sound basis for planning the future provision of aids to navigation into the next century.
We support the broad thrust of the proposals, which are in line with developments in the international maritime community and will assist the transition to a civil Global Navigation Satellite System. The balance of opinion following the consultation exercise supports the provision by the GLAs of DGPS for marine users based on the Global Positioning System (GPS) at a relatively small cost to the General Lighthouse Fund (GLF). The system offers improved navigational accuracy whilst maintaining the system integrity of GPS, as well as the prospective benefits of providing future interface with electronic charting, integrated bridge systems, vessel traffic services and transponder systems.
The UK is interested in adopting the NELS system to replace the Decca Navigator System as the terrestrial back-up to GPS. We cannot commit the UK to NELS until its future has been placed beyond doubt. In the meantime users should be aware that the GLAs are unlikely to operate the Decca Navigator System beyond the year 2000.
The GLAs' proposals can be implemented within the income provided by the reduced level of light dues that we announced on March 6. They will save an estimated £32 million over the next 20 years while offering the prospect of improved accuracy to the navigator. Further reductions in user costs after the year 2000 are expected from the GLAs' ongoing reviews of traditional aids to navigation, which will be carried out in consultation with users.
Salisbury Bypass: Highways Agency Report
Lord HolmPatrick asked Her Majesty's Government:
- If a copy of the Highways Agency report on its reviews of the crossing of the River Avon south of Salisbury by the proposed Salisbury bypass will be placed in the Library.
Viscount Goschen: Copies of the Highways Agency review report, which is in three volumes, have been placed in the Library. The report identified two possible alternative routes to the published route for the bypass which would avoid land having to be taken from the newly designated East Harnham Meadows site of special scientific interest in the Avon Valley. In accordance with undertakings given when my right honourable friends the Secretaries of State for Transport and the Environment announced their views on the proposed bypass last October, we will shortly be affording interested parties an opportunity to comment on the agency's report.
"Pescado" Sinking: Report
Viscount Exmouth asked Her Majesty's Government:
- When they intend to publish the Marine Accident Investigation Report into the sinking of the "Pescado", a Plymouth registered scalloper, which sank off the Cornish coast in 1991.
Viscount Goschen: The report will be published as soon as possible after it is received by my right honourable friend the Secretary of State.
Sandeels: TAC Proposal
Lord Moran asked Her Majesty's Government:
- Why their proposal that there should be a precautionary Total Allowable Catch for sandeels in 1997, which fisheries scientists are satisfied is a practicable proposition (government response to the Report by the Select Committee on Science and Technology on Fish Stock Conservation and Management, paragraph 34), was rejected by the Commission and all other member states, and whether they intend to press the Fisheries Council to reconsider its decision.
Lord Lucas: Proposals for TACs and quotas for 1997 were made to the Council last autumn by the European Commission, in the light of the scientific advice prepared by the ICES Advisory Committee on Fishery Management. Although ACFM advised that a precautionary TAC of 1.1 million tonnes could be envisaged for sandeels in the North Sea, the Commission did not make a corresponding proposal.
In the course of the subsequent negotiations the UK argued that a precautionary TAC of 850,000 tonnes would be appropriate, reflecting the average level of
catches in recent years. However, there was no support from other delegations for an amendment to the Commission's proposals to do this.The Commission indicated that it did not believe it appropriate to introduce such a measure in the absence of evidence of detrimental effects of sandeel fishing on human consumption fish species. However, with this in mind and at the UK's behest, the Commission is part funding a three-year international research project (ending in 1999) involving the Sea Mammal Research Unit and others, centred on the industrial fishery off the east coast of Scotland.
We have asked the researchers to inform the Commission through ICES of any interim reports which highlight potential problems, so appropriate action can be taken as soon as possible.
The Statement of Conclusions arising from the Intermediate Ministerial Meeting on the Integration of Fisheries and Environmental Issues, held in Bergen, Norway, on 13-14 March, will now provide an additional impetus for action.
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