Sin,--Mr. Co1m Brogan is to be congratulated on writing one
of the sanest—yet humane—articles on overseas aid yet to be published in a responsible British periodical. Having seen much of the British taxpayers' money used and misused in underdeveloped countries, I have often wondered by what definition an insistence that this money is used for its intended purpose can possibly be construed as 'strings'— or, as Mr. Ranganathan suggests, blackmail in re- verse. Surely this is no more interference than normal rules of behaviour are an imposition on our freedom of action.
It is clearly impracticable to donate or lend a dam or irrigation project, and money is simply a means to these ends; there is therefore a clear duty, both to those who provide the aid and to those whom it is proposed to assist, to ensure that funds are properly—dare one say honestly?—used and accounted for. What is disappointing is that this should become an issue and that it cannot be taken for granted that financial aid will not be malad- ministered.
7 Sheppard Road, Basingstoke
D. BARTON
Previous page
