Page 274 - UAE Truncal States

A City Stale - Example Dubai

into the creek unobserved by night; guardhouses on the creek at
Shindaghah and other points were manned throughout the night,
and the guards would communicate by shouting to the boat’s captain
(nuhhada) to establish the identity of the boat. All other marine
facilities were organised by Gray Mackenzie & Co., shipping agents
who have been operating in Dubai since 1891.18 For example, this
company put out buoys to mark the entrance of the creek; and before
battery-powered lights and fog sirens were introduced, a man was
paid to row with his ’abrah out to a certain buoy, tie up at it and keep
a warning lamp alight all night.19

Collection of customs duties
Unlike the various pearling taxes which were seasonally collected by
someone appointed and employed by the Ruler, the collection of
customs duties in Dubai was not done by an official. The Ruler gave a
contract to a merchant who agreed to remit a certain yearly sum to
the Ruler; the surplus was his earnings. This system of tax-farming
of customs dues was predominant in Iran but was also in use in
Muscat and several other Arab ports. The flat rate of 2 Annas on each
bundle, sack, case or parcel was changed after the Second World
War to 3* per cent on all imports. A special building called locally the
jumrah was built on the Dubai side of the creek. The Ruler used as his
office the first floor of that building which was next to his creek-side
summer palace. The last person to have a tax-farming contract was
Muhammad al Musa. Then in 1955 the British Bank of the Middle
East, which had opened a branch in Dubai in 1946, was appointed to
handle the collection of customs due on goods imported by bigger
ships with proper documents. The rate was then fixed at 4.625 per
cent, of which 0.025 per cent was generally considered to be the
bank’s fee.20 Dhow trade and overland trade, however, remained
under the old system, which was eventually also streamlined in 1955
by a new customs clerk, Muhammad Mahdi Tajir, who was seconded
through the influence of the Political Resident in Bahrain from the
Government of Bahrain.
Fresh food was landed close to either of the two markets and
carried over the sand if need be. But everything else, from barges as
well as from dhows, was landed in the vicinity of the office of the
Ruler. In 1951 Gray Mackenzie & Co. found it necessary to put a crane
there, and the area where boats could come alongside was gradually
extended by building up the bank behind with some rock binding.
249