مجموعة ٢/٥٤ "لجنة الشرق الأوسط (الرسمية): مجموعة العمل" [و‎‎٧‎٧] (٦٤٢/١٥٣)

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16# Minerals have not so far been discovered in the
Protectorate, and the most important activity to be
encouraged in it is that of agriculture* For this purpose
increased water supplies and improved irrigation schemes
are prime necessities, and it will be seen that the
development programme devotes the sum of £ 300,000 to this
object. The most important project of this nature is the
Abyan Irrigation Scheme*
!?• Abyan is a district about 30 to i40 miles to the
North-East of Aden, through which two river beds pass from
the mountains of the interior to the sea coast# In the
past local Arab irrigation dams and channels have not been
sufficient to prevent a large proportion of the water that
passes at certain sessions dov/n these river beds escaping
to the sea# In recent years an Abyan Board has been set
up for the improvement and conservation of existing
irrigation works in this area, and a grant of £20,000 was
made to this Board in 1946. Now a further interest-free
loan from the Colonial Development and Welfare Fund of
£250,000 has boen approved, and with this assistance it
is hoped to accomplish two principal purposes. The first
and main objective is to determine how much of the Abyan
area can be brought under cultivation by controlled
irrigation. To do this it is necessary to collect as much
data as possible regarding water resources, run off#
survey levels, operating costs, etc 0 , during a period of
at least three years 0 The second objective is to bring
land which is known to be suitable under irrigation and
cultivation as quickly as possible. It is hoped that a
total of 120,000 acres may be irrigable. At the same time
it is reliably estimated that a minimum of 30,000 to 40,000
acres can be watered without difficulty each year and the
scheme provides for bringing 28,000 acres of this area
under irrigation control during this three-year period# The
development of these 28,000 acres will in itself provide
valuable data for further development of the irrigation
system.
18. The effect of such an irrigation scheme, the first
of its kind and scale in Southern Arabia, is bound to be
felt in other parts of the Protectorate and is likely to
be the forerunner of similar if smaller schemes. The
prosperity of Abyan and its inhabitants should be greatly
enhanced by the increased production which should result
from the scheme, and the people of neighbouring areas of
the Protectorate and in the Colony of Aden should benefit
by the increased production of cheaper food# It is hoped
that the agricultural development of this area will
obviate the danger of famine which is a recurrent evil
in the Eastern Aden Protectorate and to a lesser degree
a frequent threat in the Western Aden Protectorate.
19. It will be seen from Appendix II that educational,
medical and public health schemes are also being undertaken
in the Protectorate. Among the latter the anti-malarial
measures are particularly important in connexion with the
irrigation scheme for Abyan, a district in which malaria
is rife if it is not checked.