British Mandate: A Survey of Palestine: Volume II - Page 869

CHAPTER XX.

Personnel.

53. The total staff strength of the department as at 31st December, 1045, including classified and unclassified employees but excluding casual labour, was 2,287, sub-divided as follows:-

BRITISH

Palestinian

OTHER NATIONALIT11'S

First Second

Division Division

First Second First Second

Division Division Division Division

Moslems

Christians

19

19 9

8 s

564 937 694

18

Jews

12

Future development.

54. The public demand for Post Office services exceeds the capacity of the available plant and buildings. The use of the mail services has increased by 150% in the last 15 years, the telegraph service by 190% and the telephone service by 290%. Plans for the expansion of these services, deferred during the war, are now matters of some urgency.

55. Schemes are in hand for the completion of a new head post office at 'rel Aviv, work on which was suspended in 1938 owing to lack of funds. It is also intended to erect a new head post office at Haifa, and to open new post offices and agencies in many villages and settlements.

56. The public demand for telephones has been sustained at a high level for many years. The number of waiting applications owing to lack of equipment amounts to 9,500 which represents more than one third of the present number of telephones in use. The trunk network is overloaded and there is heavy delay to trunk calls. Comprehensive augmentation of the local and trunk line network is necessary. A £P.2,000,000 plan for the expansion of the telephone system over a period of ten years has been submitted to the Secretary of State for the Colonies. Provision has been made therein for the enlargement of the automatic exchanges at Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa.; the installation of a new trunk exchange at Tel Aviv; the provision of a new automatic and trunk exchange at Jaffa; the automatisation of many of the smaller exchanges; and the laying of trunk cables between the principal urban areas, and other cables or overhead wires to subsidiary areas.

57. The improvement of the telegraph service is being effected by the increased utilization of teleprinters.

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