Page 131 - UAE Truncal States
P. 131

Chapter Three

                 company camps established in his territory. The company refunded
                 to the Ruler the cost of the guards' wages, and only rations  were
                 given directly to the guards at each camp. In the first camp at Ra’s al
                 Sadr the head guard was Thani bin Murshid, who is the elder of the
                 Rumaithat section of the Bani Yas: he became the contact between
                 the company and the guards and eventually also between the entire
                 local labour force and the Ruler.
                   After drilling a well at Jabal 'Ali in Dubai territory. PD(TC) in 1953
                 moved their camp toTarif, west of Abu Dhabi, to drill the first well on
                 the Bab structure. The head guard Thani bin Murshid remained the
                 link between the government and the company, living for most of the
                 year in Tarif, although he had by then opened a shop in the suq in
                 Abu Dhabi. But he was never styled omlr.
                   In 1955 the main camp was moved again, first to drill a well at
                 Jazirah, west of the Sabkhah Matti, then on to al Hamra' to drill
                 another well on the coast near to Jabal al Dhannah.'10 A temporary
                 camp was also constructed for drilling al Juwaisah in Sharjah
                 territory in 1957. At the end of 1958, the camp al Tarif, which had
                 never been entirely dismantled, was refurbished because drilling on
                 the Bab dome was resumed. Guards were required at all these
                 drilling locations as well as at the camps of the seismic survey parties
                 and al the various places on the coast where materials were off­
                 loaded from barges. Where the Rulers guards were used in any of
                 these locations, Thani bin Murshid appointed head guards who
                 acted as his deputies in all matters concerning the guards as well as
                 the entire local labour force.01 In those years Thani bin Murshid
                 therefore held a very powerful position, being able to decide who
                 among the tribesmen would obtain employment with the company,
                 and in turn he could influence the relationship between the men and
                 the company.
                   During those early years the head guard in Tarif was directly
                 responsible to Shaikh Shakhbul. But he remained closely identified
                 with his own tribal group and his influence over some of the labour
                 force, which was recruited from almost all of Abu Dhabi’s tribes, was
                 not always sufficient to settle disputes and avoid stoppages of work.
                 In these situations only a member of the ruling family commanded
                 the necessary authority to make the men accept the conditions which
                 had been negotiated with the oil company’s representatives.62
                   After the announcement of the discovery of oil in commercial
                 quantities in October 1960, the company’s activity increased drama­
                 tically, and as a result of this the Ruler appointed in June 1961 a

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