'File 29/22 I CEREALS FOR SHARJAH AND DUBAI' [‎5r] (9/682)

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CONFIDENTIAL^
D.0.No.C/1188-34/3A
/■Ii i*A«i British Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. ,Bharjah.
'[r. r |l' Dated the 10th November 1943«
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1943.
Kindly refer to your D.O. No.c/1477 dated the 31st October
2* ) Of the 7000 bags of rice in Dubai at the beginning of Octo
ber only 430 remained at the end of the month, of the amount consumed
Qatar has taken 1000 bags, Abu Dhabi 500, Ajman, urn al Qaiwain, and
Has al Khaimah 100 each etc. etc. totalling over 2,500 bagso The
people of Dubai and the bedouin dependent on it have therefore consum
ed 4,000 bags, which is not excessive in view of Dubai*s present popu
lation of nearly 100,000,
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3* I do not consider it likely >hat much, if any of the 4,000
bags consumed in the m.oilth has been hoarded as no one has been allowed
to buy more than 13^ lbs, and I am certain that 2,000 bags-or even
500 bags-could not now^be found for export. Nor do I think it would be
fair to ask shaikh ga*id to try to find rice for export in view of his
generous response to Bahrain r s last appeal (please see Mr*wakefield*s
-D.O.No.c/1004 dated the 25th July 1943 and subsequent correspondence),
in fact I was going to ask you whether if Bahrain^ are lucky enough
to import any more Australian wheat by tanker, you would care to repay
Dubai by letting us buy 2000 bags, as the high price of the U.K.C.C.
wheat we are shortly going to take into use and of the barley etc.
is causing great hardship to the poor.
4. As the present mixture contains an unnecessarily low propor
tion of wheat and is most unpalatable, I have given instructions th t
wheat and barely etc., will be mixed in equal proporations when we
start using the U.K.C.C. wheat in a few days time. The cost will work
out at Rs.31/- per bag as shown in the account attached. After this
mixture has been consumed we will be able to issue pure wheat until
the arrival of the next consignment which it is hoped will be early in
December. This next consignment will have to be taken into use almost
immediately on arrival so it is vitally important that the U.K.C.C.
notify us of the price at the time of delivery, but, in the event,
which I consider more than probable, of our having to issue it for
consumption before the final price is notified £o us I should be glad
of your prior permission to dispose of it at the price of the previous
U.K.C.C. consignments-as.a#'- per bag for wheat and Fs.30/- per bag for
barley etc. ^ jj iq ^1,
5. I should be glad if the JTlK.C.C. could be asked to ensure t
that the proportion of one fifth- for Sharjah and four fifths for Dubai
recommended in my telegram No. 231 dated the 12th March 1943 is aflhered
to. When they sent the consignment of barley etc. by the Baroda and
Fsang in last May and June 860 tons were consigned to Dubai as against
891 to Sharjah. If the wheat/barley etc.proportion and the correct
distribution between Dubai and Sharjah is not adhered to'it widl mean
that the grain will have to be re-distributed later and the cost of t
this will tend to send up the already high price of the grain.
Major T.Hinkinbotham O.B.S.,
tateyPolitical Agent,
BAHRAIN.