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the bush. The tractors which were available had to meet many demands. New roads and railways had to be built, sites had to be cleared for buildings, and a number of tractors had to be reserved for the vital task of training African drivers. Thus, up to the end of November, 1947, the average number of tractors per week engaged on land clearing was only 57---less than one half of the number specified by the Mission.
37. Because it had been impossible to obtain new tractors, the Managing Agency had to search the war-time disposal dumps of the world to find suitable second-hand tractors. In numbers alone it succeeded in finding. all that it required, but their condition, after war-time use, was not satis- factory. Some tractors were reconditioned in the United Kingdom, and then shipped out, but many more were consigned direct to Dar-es-Salaam. Unserviceable tractors dogged the Managing Agents from the beginning. By July 1, 1947, there were 97 heavy tractors delivered in Kongwa, but only 44 per cent. of these were operational, and as more and more tractors arrived, the problem of maintaining the "runners "in operation and reconditioning the non-runners became more and more serious. In August, 1947, there were 285 tractors in Kongwa, but only 95 were serviceable, and by November the number had fallen to 65.
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38. It was not possible to maintain this total fleet of reconditioned tractors without heavy-maintenance shops, a full range of spare parts and all the other essentials which in war were needed to keep an armoured division of 250 fighting vehicles in full operation. The scale of this maintenance prob- lem had been greatly underestimated, and a corresponding increase of the European personnel became necessary. And above all it took time to recruit and fly out skilled mechanics, time to organise the flow of spare parts largely from U.S.A., time to erect workshops, and time to secure the necessary machine tools to equip the workshops.
Administrative Organisation
39. The difficulties of clearing and the problem of tractor maintenance would have been serious enough to make impossible the realisation of the original targets, but, in addition, the Managing Agents had to face the formidable task of building up the extensive administrative base needed to support the land clearing and agricultural operations. It was necessary to recruit a new staff for the control of this project. Experienced men could not be obtained for all the appointments, and new men had to be given a chance to prove themselves. The individuals assembled had to be welded into a team to take on a job in which there were few with previous experience to guide them. Moreover, they had to deal with bottlenecks in supplies, transport, organisation and accommodation. The acquisition of all the various machines, parts, materials, tools, furniture, equipment, food, mer- chandise and other stores which were necessary, and their shipment from all over the world to the port of Dar-es-Salaam with no deep water berths and limited storage accommodation was no light task. The port was strained to capacity with the normal increase in post-war traffic, and the additional burden of the groundnut traffic became an insistent problem to the port authorities. Partly as a consequence of the shipping difficulty, and partly as a result of beginning operations before the administrative services were built up, the problem of handling all the stores became a nightmare. Mobility was particularly vital in the case of spare parts for the reconditioned tractors. and motor vehicles. Construction of accommodation for workshops, staffs,. and offices presented another problem which also had apparently been underestimatede 126 of 1097
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