British Mandate: A Survey of Palestine: Volume II - Page 774

CHPATER XVII.

99. As to the present day practice, Government has issued no new instructions as to the allocation of works between Arabs and Jews on any pre-determined percentage. The procedure followed by the Department in regard to work being carried out by contract is, therefore, to call for competitive tenders from a selected list of contractors, including both Jewish and Arab firms, and to award the contract to the lowest bidder, having regard to the quality of the materials to be supplied, and to allow the contractor to make his own arrangements for the recruitment of labour. With regard to works being carried out departmentally, it is generally the practice to recruit as far as possible labour from the area in which the works are being executed, but occasionally a shortage of labour in a particular locality obliges the district engineer to procure labour from elsewhere and transport them to the site of work.

100. Table l, which is similar to that published at the bottom of page 141 in the memoranda prepared for the Palestine Royal Commission, shows, in respect of the financial years 1942/43, 1943/44 and 1944/45, that there has been a slight increase in the percentage of Jewish labour, both in the number of man-days and in the amount of wages paid, as compared with the table in respect of the years 1933 to 1936, though this percentage is still less than the 30-33 percent proposed by Government for 1933/34.

101. Table 2, showing the number and amount of contracts awarded during these three years (1942/43 to 1944/45) to Arab, Jewish and other contractors respectively, differs from that published on page 144 of the memoranda prepared for the Royal Commission, in that it only includes contracts of £P.100 and upwards.

102. The police building programme of 1940-1941 and its extension in 1942-1944 comprised a total of 61 buildings. Of these, 12 were constructed by direct departmental labour, 27 by Jewish contractors, 6 by Arab contractors, 8 by Arab and Jewish contractors in partnership, and 8 by other contractors. The conditions of the contracts required all unskilled labour employed by the respective contractors to be that predominant in the areas in which each building was being constructed. The skilled labour employed was mostly Jewish. The task of completing this huge building programme within the limited time allowed by Government for the purpose, and while a world war was in progress, was of such magnitude as to necessitate the recruitment of the entire contracting strength of the country, irrespective of any other factors, to achieve its execution, and this course was actually followed with the full agreement of Government.

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