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Coll 54/1(S) 'Middle East (Official) Committee: Reconstruction' [279r] (561/940)
The record is made up of 1 file (468 folios). It was created in 20 Mar 1949-13 Dec 1949. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
to the econorny of Syria, in providing employment,
currency and an easing of the oil supply position*
11. COMMUNICATIONS
* The 'coordination of road, rail and port development
in Syria requires further careful investigation.
(a) R oads
Except for the- remote and undeveloped areas,
particularly the Jezira, road communications are generally
adequate and no large programme oi road consti’uction is
necessary. At present a major diliiculty is rather the
maintenance of the existing road system. ^.n estimate
of road construction required in opening up the agri
cultural lands of the Euphrates Valley and the Jesira,
together with an analysis of costs, is given in Annex a,
paragraphs 10 and 11.
(b) Railways
The railway system does not serve the best interests
country. The Southern regions, including Damascus,
have no through rail connexion with *JLeppo and the North.
The rail link between the West and the largo and potentially
rich lands of the North-East and Iraq passes through Turkey*
There are suggestions therefore for a direct link with Bagdad,
to which the Iraqis have agreed in principle* The route
might be via Homs— Palmyra—Abou Kemal, with a new direct line
from Homs to Damascus. Such .a line would be uneconomic*
To serve the rich Jezira, a. line farther North, from Aleppo
via Raqqa to Deir-ez-Zor, would be necessary
The Gibb Report recommended idle following programme of
railway development:
First Stage -
(a) Damascus-Homs (200 kms. ) Detailed investigations end
execution. (Such a line coulu
hardly be justified on purely economic
grounds)#
(b) Aleppo-La takia (220 kms.) Detailed investigations, depending
. . on the decision to develop the
port of Latakia (see below)
(c) Aleppo—R.aqqa (200 kms*) Detailed investigations*
/Second Stage
About this item
- Content
The file contains papers relating to the Middle East (Official) Committee. It consists of: papers circulated to members of the Committee, received by the External Department of the Commonwealth Relations Office (CRO); a few items of CRO correspondence with the Foreign Office, the Cabinet Office, and Commonwealth governments; and a register of papers received or sent by the CRO relating to the Committee, with internal CRO correspondence (at the back of the file).
The file includes agendas for meetings of the Committee, and minutes of the meetings on 28 April, 5 May, 5 July and 19 July 1949. Matters discussed and recorded in the minutes include: the reconstitution of the Committee; the re-settlement of Arab refugees from Palestine; the report on Economic and Social Development in the Middle East by the Working Party of the Committee; the future work of the Committee; the Conference of HM Representatives in the Middle East to be held in London from 26 to 29 July 1949; United States President Truman’s ‘Fourth Point’ (Truman’s message of 24 June 1949 to the United States House of Representatives, communicating a ‘Recommendation for the Enactment of Legislation to Authorise an Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance for Underdeveloped Areas of the World’); and further studies of the Working Party.
The file also includes the following papers prepared by (or approved by) the Working Party of the Committee: draft, revised and interim versions of the report on Economic and Social Development in the Middle East; papers relating to the economic and social development of Iraq, Syria, Greater Transjordan Used in three contexts: the geographical region to the east of the River Jordan (literally ‘across the River Jordan’); a British protectorate (1921-46); an independent political entity (1946-49) now known as Jordan , Egypt, the Lebannon, Saudi Arabia, Cyrenaica, Tripolitania, Eritrea and Somalia, and the Colony of Aden and the Aden Protectorate; and a paper on Middle East oil.
In addition, the file includes other papers relating to matters discussed at the meetings, and the following subjects: Transjordan Used in three contexts: the geographical region to the east of the River Jordan (literally ‘across the River Jordan’); a British protectorate (1921-46); an independent political entity (1946-49) now known as Jordan ; irrigation development in Iraq; Persia’s [Iran’s] Seven Year Plan for development; informal conversations on social and economic affairs in the Middle East between representatives of the Foreign Office, the Treasury, the British Embassy in Washington, and the United States State Department; the work of the Development Division of British Middle East Office; a survey of the oil resources of the Middle East; and economic development in Cyprus in relation to the Middle East.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (468 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate reverse chronological order from the front to the rear of the file.
Numbers in red pen on the top right hand corner of items in the file refer to entries in the register of papers received and sent by the Commonwealth Relations Office at the back of the file.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 468; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.
A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/4756
- Title
- Coll 54/1(S) 'Middle East (Official) Committee: Reconstruction'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:42r, 43r:116v, 120r:259v, 261r:294v, 296r:436v, 442r:468v
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence