Page 137 - Historical Summaries (Persian Gulf - Vol II) 1907-1953

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start had also been made in forming a separate military wing which is to be 200
strong, and a British Officer, four British Non-Commissioned Officers and four
armoured cars had been made available for it. In 1952 the State Police took over
complete responsibility for guarding Petroleum Development (Qatar) Ltd's
camps and installations in accordance with an undertaking given by the Ruler
during the negotiations for increased payments by the company (paragraph 33
below). In June 1952 the Police dealt successfully with a branch of the ruling
family who were causing trouble and since then appear to have gained the Ruler’s
full confidence.
18. Development in Dohah started slowly but by the end of 1953 it was
gathering momentum. A British State Engineer, Mr. H. T. Hale, was appointed
early in 1952, and a number of other British engineers joined his staff. In 1953
plans had been made for a piped water supply involving the installation of a
distillation plant, the water produced from which was to be mixed with local
water for drinking purposes, an electricity undertaking was under construction,
work had started on new police lines, and a design for a new hospital by a British
architect had been approved^"10) The contracts for the water supply and electricity
undertakings were given to a British firm but apart from this the practice was
growing up of giving construction work to a partnership formed for the purpose
by Abdullah bin Darwish (paragraph 10 above), and the Lebanese Contracting
and Trading Company.(*M) The Political Resident was instructed that British firms
should ip principle be assisted to share Qatar Government work with this
organisation.^) The Qatar Government have appointed Abdullah bin Darwish as
their purchasing agent and he in turn has contracted with C. Tennant Sons and
Company Limited to make all Qatar Government purchases in Europe through
them.
19. Hitherto Qatar’s requirements have been imported via Bahrain where
they pay 2 per cent, transit duty (or more when the Ruler of Bahrain is on bad
terms with Qatar) or Dubai where they pay 4| per cent, customs duty. The Qatar
Government are therefore most anxious to develop a port of their own but this
question has given rise to much controversy. The Qatar Petroleum Company
have always been unwilling to allow the general public to use their facilities at
Umm Sa’id. A scheme for the construction of a separate jetty for public use at
this place was considered and rejected. The company are proposing to build a
wharf for their own purposes and are reported to have stated that they would not
proceed with the project if the Ruler insisted on his people being allowed to use it.
Dohah is unsuitable for development as a port for direct call by ocean-going
steamers as vessels of more than about 15 feet draught cannot get nearer than 7
or 8 miles and have to anchor in an exposed position.!3") The Adviser therefore
in I953 proposed to bring goods from vessels calling at Umm Sa’id to,Dohah by
lighters.(2‘) To facilitate this the customs jetty at Dohah is to be extended.
20. In 1952 Abdullah bin Darwish and a Kuwait merchant evolved a scheme
for the erection of a cement factory in Qatar. They proposed to associate a
British firm in the enterprise and to raise a loan from a British bank. Her Majesty s
Government did not approve the proposal to raise a loan in the United Kingdom!2)
and they decided to carry on without it. They reported at the end of 1953 that
they believed that ample materials existed in Qatar for the production of cement
and that they proposed to erect a German plant working on natural gas from the
oil-field and to site it near Dukhan using Zikrit as a port.

III.—Southern Boundary of Qatar
21. The Anglo-Persian Oil Company’s negotiations with the Ruler for an oil
concession in the years 1933 to 1935 (paragraph 26 below) led to much discussion
about the position of the southern boundary of Qatar. The whole question is
examined in detail in an India Office memorandum prepared early in !934.( J

(*•’) P.R. to F.O. 14 (E) of February 6. 1953 (EA 1107/1 of 1953).
(2I) Tel. from P.R. to F.O. 42, Saving, of September 23, 1953 (EA 1107/4 of 1953).
(«) Tel. from F.O. to P.R. 1165 of October 1. 1953 (EA 1107/3 of 1953).
(3a) P.R. to F.O. 1101/I of January 3. 1952 (EA 1391/2 of 1952).
(=4) P.R. to F.O. Despatch 14 (E) of February 6, 1953 (EA 1107/1 of 1953).
(2i) F.O. to P.R. EA 1107/2 of June 13. 1952.
(’•) I.O. to F.O. P.Z. 614/34 of February 20. 1934 (E 1156/279/91 of 1934).