'File 8/46 Staff Officer (Intelligence), Persian Gulf, Intelligence Reports' [‎29r] (57/70)

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3ECKET.
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(vii) Tho ocar.eioriel uoretnonia ^ Poreien (Junbonto hes on^onderod mny
pelpitetionc aaon^st tho Haatorfa and Pilots in Shatt-al-Arab.
lino alone ■will toll .'!!
(viii) A briof r^ort on the Poraian Navy is anpondod.
iojwait^
(i) All tho Junior Staff of tho Kuwait Oil Company, both Indiana and
majority of Pakiatania wont on a gonoral atriko on 14th August,
Tlio strike was touohod off b3 r an incident v/lien a European employe©
of Spinney*a, Mr. Powlcr, struck an Indian for refusing to obey an
order. There had, however, boon mounting discontent previous t•
this duo to tho refusal of the lianngoment to consider thoir request
for ^August 15 th Indian Indopondonco Pay as a holiday. On August 15 th
Pakistanis as v/oll as Indians came out, the strike spread to "Kuwait
through the activity of pickets, and communications within K.0,0,
wor e int erruptod.
(ii) A mooting between tho Strike Comitteo yrd Abdullah Mullah, His
Highness 1 Secretary and Personal Representatives with K, 0.0. was
held in Almedi on tho evening sf August 17th and resulted in tho
stride being called off after pertain assurances had been rriven by
Abdullah Mullah, and a meeting between the atriko committee and the
management oi L, 0.0. load boon arranged for the next day on ,f neutral
ground’' at tho Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. . At this mooting, most "of the strikers*
demands were deferred for future consideration. Meanwhile, tho
strike committee found it has lost a 1ft of its support, as tho
400 Indian employees who had offered their resignation as a protest
were surprised to have their resignation accept od and -.any asked
hurriedly to withdraw their original application. There was half
hearted talk of calling out the strikers again but no real attempt
was made. The General Manager stated that oil production was not
affected.
(iii) Approximately 15 of the ringleaders have subsequently boon
discharged and shipped to India,
(iv) Three fires occurred during September, two in the Town and *ne in
the IC.0,0, Motor Transport Stores at Magwa. Tho latter was
suificiently serious to affect K.0,0, development programme,
aggravating still further, thoir very uncertain transport situation.
Of^the two fires in the Town, one was in a c<a.Tpmmd full of stores
and the other oceurrod in two booms on the sea-front at low tide.
In both cases the fire brigades were helpless because of lack ff'
water,and the fires were allo^.’od to bum out. In an^r case fire
fighting is not helped by the vast concourse of passive spectators,
who seem to regard fires as one, of tho major amusements of Kuwait.
The fires in tho t own were probably due to carelessness and the
high cembustibility gf materials after a dry summer, but a court
of enquiry found, tho K*0.C* fire was duo to arson, either wanton
or to cover up thefts.
B/mEJHJ. . ..
(i) V/hilo he is in tho United Kingdom, Colonel W. Moody His Excellency
the Political Resident’s Surgetn, hopes to obtain sanction for the
appointment of a European Quarantine Officer who would superintend
.quarantine arrangements at Sitr^h, Balirein, Tho question, as t»
whether ho will, (as the'previous Quarantine Medical Officer, medically
attends tho ships visiting Sitrah) is under discussion botv/een tho
Bahrein Petroleum Company and the. 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. , tho Company having
given indications at various tines that they would prefer to provide
nodical attention for the crews, at any rate, of tankers belonging
to Companies affiliated to them. It would, however, bo a waste to
have a doctor at Sitrah solely for quarantine work. The Oil Company
have built a dispensary at Sitrah for this purpose.