'Administration Report of the Persian Gulf for the year 1932' [‎578v] (60/72)

The old conservative replies of “ leave well alone ” and “ what has been wod
enough for our fathers is good enough for us ”, and “ Ood will arrange for the
health and cleanliness of the city ” have now all gone. The satisfactory feature
about it all is that Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. , beyond talking and pointing out certain ad
vantages, etc., has done nothing. The active demand for improvements has come
from the people themselves.
Nevertheless Kuwait has still very far to go in matters of cleanliness and
sanitation of the interior of houses, which at present are quite outside the respon
sibilities of the Municipal Committee or its keen Secretary.
(c) Imperial Airways—{1) On 28th October the first plane (Eastbound) from
London to Karachi landed at Kuwait and picked up passengers. A large crowd
of persons including His Excellency the Shaikh, the European community and
the leading inhabitants of the Town collected on the aerodrome to watch the huge
machine arrive As the aircraft was before time a delay of an hour was made at
Kuwait during which the public were allowed to inspect the interior of the machine.
This thoughtful act was much appreciated and was an excellent form of pro
paganda.
(2) From 28th October to the 22nd December, East and West bound planes
only called at Kuwait to pick up or put down intending passengers—No mails
were taken or delivered.
On the Shaikh and Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. making representation in the matter the
Company agreed as from the 22nd December to make Kuwait a permanent port of
call both for mails and passengers, for a period of 6 months as an experimental
measure.
(3) Kuwait now has its regular air mail service which is most popular
with both Europeans and Arabs and it is hoped it will become a permanence.
(4) At the moment the question of rates is troubling the travelling public
somewhat as £4 is charged between Kuwait and Basrah (80 miles) and £8 between
Kuwait and Bahrain (300 miles). It is hoped by the writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. that he will succeed
in getting these rates altered to £2 and £6 respectively.
(5) His Excellency the Shaikh has intimated that after 6 months if the Com
pany decides to make Kuwait a permanent port of call, he wall build a small rest
house for passengers free of charge.
{d) Boat Building Trade. —1. This has been somewhat more prosperous than
during 1931. Several important orders for ocean-going ‘ ‘ Bums ” or dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. 's came
and livened up the ship industry.
2. A note on the number, tonnage, etc. of boats built has been given in the
year’s trade report and can be referred to if necessary.
3. The following types of boats were all built during the year under re
view :—
“ Bagala
11 Bum
“ Sumbuq ”
“ Shu’wal
“ Jelboot ”.
“ Mashua
4. No 11 Batils ” were laid down.
5. His Excellency not satisfied with the size of the yacht which wms built for
him in 1931 and desiring to give a fillip to the rather depressed boat building
industry, had another yacht, some 80 feet in length, built for him. The hull was-
completed by the end of the year but the launching ceremony has yet to take place.
The new yacht has been designed according to European standards and looks
to have good lines. The 75 H. P. Thornycroft Internal Combustion engine now-
fitted in the Shaikh’s old yacht will be taken out and put into the new craft
the old vessel being converted into a sailing dhow A term adopted by British officials to refer to local sailing vessels in the western Indian Ocean. .
(e) Pearl Season. —The nearl industry is of course the most important that
Kuwait possesses. About 10,000 men with their families are dependent for
their living on the annual “ Ghaus ” or “ Dive ”. Other industries such as boat
building, sail-making, manufacture of shark’s oil, etc., are sympathetically
affected by the prosperity or otherwise of the pearl market.