Page 400 - Records of Bahrain (7) (i)_Neat

386 Records of Bahrain

confidential

noro oil than BAPGO chooao to produce, and ho wishes the
company to rclinnuiuh all porta of the marine area where it isj
not actually drilling.
-15. The visit oT Mr. Charles Gault, C.L.E., the former
Political Agent, to Bahruin in February did not after nil lead
to hiu appointment au visiting Adviser and unofficial
repronentative in London, an had been expected by come. Perhaps
the advice he gave Hiu Highness on Zubarah wuu not to the Ruler'o
taotc. He could otlll be useful to the Bahrain Government in
London in several ways, but conflicting interests in the
Secretariat will^probably lead the Ruler to pass him over. It
appears indeed that Colonel Oulloway, BAPCO'a London Public

Relations Officer, will now bo retained for £500 per annum, to
supervise the training of the A1 Khali fall students.
16. Construction of the new deep voter harbour continues, but
whereas less then a year ago the contractors were being chivvied
because of delays due to unexpected technical difficulties, it
now ucemo moot likely that the contractor's work .ill be completed
more or less on time; but the preparatory work for the new
harbour on the administration aide is ..ell behind. The first
draft of the Harbours Ordinance did not meet with the Ruler's
approval in that it provided for a Harbour Advisory Committee
which would include representatives of the shipping and importing

firms; the Ruler thought that the committee should consist of
four people on'lj', all appointed by the Dahrain Government, and
hoadod by his youngest son, and this point is still being
contested by the British Port bjuiTger. This, ant delays in
translating the English draft into Arabic, principally for the
Ruler's benefit, have meant tl.at there has no far been no advance
publicity on the advantages the wort will have to offer, and no
indication of what the various port handing charges and storage
fees will be. Some merchants arc convinced that these chargoo

will be so high that they will reduce' the effectiveness of the
"free zone"•
/17. The State
CONFIDENTIAL