by 1952 the Philippine Bureau of Public Highways was staffed entirely by local engineers and technicians and was recognized as one of the most capable highway organizations in Asia. During 1961 and 1962 the BPR/ICA activities were gradually phased out, and the Bureau Division Office in the Philippines was closed.
Meanwhile, however, negotiations were underway between the Philippine Government and the Development Loan Fund (a U.S. Government lending institution) for a substantial loan for highway purposes. This loan, identified as DLF No. 67, was approved in June 1959 in the amount of $18.75 million. The loan agreement specified that the borrower (Philippine Government) make arrangements for the Bureau of Public Roads to act as liaison between the Philippine Government and the lending agency.[1]
After a difficult beginning, the program progressed satisfactorily, and the majority of program activities were completed in September 1969.
The Turkish Program—1947 to 1958
On May 22, 1947, the 80th Congress enacted Public Law 75, known as the Aid to Greece and Turkey Program. The law included a sum of $5 million to Turkey for highway purposes. Originally scheduled to be administered and operated by the U.S. Army, it was shortly found more suitable for the Public Roads Administration (PRA). Thus, on July 12, 1947, the State Department and the PRA signed an agreement in which Public Roads would supervise the highway program in Turkey under the terms of the Act. By the end of 1947, the PRA’s staff consisted of 18 men, engineers and specialists sharing space with their Turkish counterparts for a good opportunity for close working relationships and training. The initial objectives of the administrative and planning advisors were to prepare a report on the status of highway development and to negotiate a formal agreement with the Turkish Government covering the objectives of the cooperative program; establish the obligations to be assumed by each party; formulate the ways of attaining the desired objectives; and arrange the financial requirements for the program. The report was completed, presented to the Turkish Government, and an agreement executed on April 26, 1948. This agreement stated that the Public Roads group would assist the Ministry of Public Works of Turkey in establishing a long-range highway improvement program and in establishing a pattern for highway administration on a national scale.
The initial staffing of the Public Roads group provided the required organizational arrangement for accomplishing the work. Specialists were added to the organizational units as required, but when Turkish personnel were capable of taking over an organizational unit, that unit was dropped from the Public Roads organization. The first division to be transferred to exclusive Turkish administration was the Planning and Programing Division in 1954.
Pack animals move aggregate in remote areas of Turkey.
The 11 years of training and working together between BPR and the Turkish personnel bore fruit. When the technical assistance program began in Turkey, BPR personnel could not identify a counterpart in the Turkish organization for many of the divisions such as in Survey and Design or in Materials. Or, if there were counterpart groups, many of the techniques used were not mechanized. Thus, units had to be organized and staffed, and training for counterparts and their sections had to be undertaken. The better graduates from this instruction became instructors for new classes. While the on-the-job instruction was going on, further practical ex-
539
- ↑ Loan Agreement Between Department of Public Works and Communications, Republic of The Philippines, and The Development Loan Fund, DLF Loan No. 67, June 29, 1959.
