Page 283 - UAE Truncal States

Chapter Seven

for domestic affairs of the City Stale of Dubai to his son, Rashid. The
latter had the reputation of being a good fighter, and on more than
one occasion he had swiftly retrieved stolen camels or caught up with
runaway bandits. Shaikh Rashid bin SaTd seems to have sym­
pathised with a great many of the reform movement’s proposals for
the improvement of the Stale, although he was politically opposed to
its leaders. Shaikh Rashid bin SaTd became Ruler in 1958, and when
funds became available to improve conditions in the shaikhdom he
initialed changes which had much in common with those proposed
in 1938.

3 Development of a modern infrastructure
in Dubai

First step: improving the creek
At the beginning of the 1950s it became obvious that the activity of
Petroleum Development (Trucial Coast), which held the concession to
explore for oil in all the Trucial States and Oman, was about to
increase substantially. Even if no oil was found, exploration still
necessitated the import of large amounts of heavy equipment, of food
and other requirements for all the employees of the company.35
Whichever port on the Trucial Coast offered the best facilities for
handling these imports and for accommodating the new services was
bound to be able to develop local business in the wake of the
activities of the oil company. These opportunities were pointed out to
several of the Trucial Rulers, but Shaikh SaTd bin Maktum, together
with his son Rashid, were more ready than the others to take
advantage of the developing situation.
Thus the old idea of improving the port facilities was revived. In
1954 a British firm of consultants working in Kuwait, Sir William
Halcrow and Partners, was asked to advise on whether and how the
silled-up entrance of Dubai creek could be deepened. “Creek Bonds”,
I
which the Ruler asked the various merchants to buy, provided the
money for a survey to investigate the sea bed. With the help of some
British Government officials resident in Kuwait, a loan of half a
million pounds sterling was arranged, to pay for an Austrian
company, Overseas Ast Co. Ltd., to dredge the creek between the end
of 1958 and June 1959. The improved creek offered sheltered
anchorage for local craft and coastal steamers up to about 500 tons.

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