U.N. Secretary-general Urges Priority for Jordan Valley Project; Addresses Scientists

Nine representatives of Israel today attended the opening session of the first United Nations conference on the conservation of natural resources. They are among the eight largest representations in a conference to which 50 countries have sent representatives.

In opening the session of some 600 scientists, U.N. Secretary-General Trygvie Lie reiterated the importance of giving a high priority to the development of the Jordan Valley as one of the principal projects in the Middle East. He also stressed the importance of giving the Middle East the right of way in development programs.

Among the seven papers submitted by the Israeli scientists, one by Shragai Irmay, of the hydraulics laboratory of the Haifa Institute of Technology, presents the United Nations for the first time with a detailed blueprint for the reclamation of the Negev and other areas in Palestine through the development of the Jordan Valley Authority scheme.

Two other Israeli papers, submitted by Shmuel Duvdivani, of the Dew Research Station of Karkur. Avi Salkind, hydraulic engineer of the Palestine Water Company, and Adolf Reisenberg, Associate Professor on soil science of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, deal with the problem of Palestine’s need for water.

A paper submitted by Rudolf Moshe Bloch, consulting chemist to Palestine Potash, Ltd., deals with mineral problems. Papers will also be submitted by D.E. Bergman, of the Weizmann Institute of Science at Rehovot; Alfred Freudenthal, of the Association of Engineers and Architects in Israel; Ludwig Samuel, of the Palestine Association of Jewish Economists in Jerusalem; and Moshe Erwin Witkom, of the Israel Embassy in Washington.