Page 132 - UAE Truncal States

Administering a Tribal Society
labour representative at Tarlf. Ahmad bin Hasan, of the Sudan tribe,
who had previously been head guard at various camps, occupied this
position in 1903. By this time Thani bin Murshid had entered into a
partnership with a foreign company, African and Eastern, to provide
various maintenance services in Tarlf.
The expansion of company activity in the western part of
Abu Dhabi coincided with the start of oil exports from an offshore
Held in 1962. At the same time the Ruler started to delegate some
authority through the introduction of a rudimentary administration
in Abu Dhabi town. The beduin loo were subject increasingly to
new administrative processes, particularly where they took up
employment.
In 1964 Ahmad bin Hasan was the Rulers representative with the
drilling contractor Santa Fe at their base camp near Tarlf, but
eventually his authority was further increased and he became known
as the amir of Tarlf. The appointment of Ruler’s representative was
conferred on a member of the ruling family, and in 1964 it was the
Ruler’s nephew Muhammad bin Khalid, who was not resident in
Tarlf. The Ruler also often delegated his son Sultan, head of the
police detachment at Tarlf and at times also head of the municipality
in Abu Dhabi, to have overall responsibility in the entire area where
the oil company and its contractors operated. He was present at
many a meeting between the company’s personnel officers and the
beduin when disputes were discussed and on occasion he visited the
rigs to smooth out differences. At times his brother Sa'id was also
involved in such tasks.
After Shaikh Zayid became the Ruler of Abu Dhabi in August
1966, overall responsibility in the oil company’s areas remained for
some time with his nephew Muhammad bin Khalid, while Ahmad bin
Hasan was still in charge of day-to-day labour relations.63 In
November 1968 a labour inspector was installed in Tarlf to observe
the implementation of the labour law which had been promulgated
on 1 January 1967, and to represent the labour department which had
been set up recently in Abu Dhabi under the chairmanship of Shaikh
Ahmad bin Hamad. In the summer of 1968 Shaikh Muhammad bin
Buti, the Ruler’s cousin on his mother’s side, was appointed
Governor of Tarlf. As the senior government official in the area he
ensured that the local labour force was treated by all contractors
according to the labour law and to the practices laid down in a code
by the oil company.
During the 1970s, when employment with the contractors of the oil
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