'File 6/7 I Kuwait landing ground' [‎46r] (96/524)

erect buildings on the sites required,
4. As regards the "Shuwaikh Area” (including
Quarantine Buildings and Coal Depot, miles by 1 mile
in size): The Shaikh said that he could neither sell
nor present these to Government, but he would be willing
to rent the area on terms which he would make as easy
as he possibly could and for as long as was required
provided
(a)
That the road to Basra passing through the
area was not interfered with;
(b)
That^the deep-water anchorage lying close
in shore immediately in front or tne area
specified were not denied to local craft -
it being necessary to them as a harbour
of refuge during ”Shamals”, when they
were unable to enter the various ’basins’
in front of the town on account of low tide
(o)
He was not asked to repair the Quarantine
buildings which would cost at least
Rs. 15,000/-, he opined.
5*
Shell
I asked what rent approximately he would
require if His Majesty’s Government eventually decided
on taking the ’’Shuwaikh” area, he replied that he would
have to think about it, but in any case he would make
it as reasonable and as low as he could for the sake of
the Royal Air Force, who were King George’s troops and
so entitled to every consideration. The Shaikh reminded
me, however, that the area mentioned included the land
leased by His Majesty’s Government in 1907 (during the
Berlin - Baghdad Railway scare) under the name ”Shuwaikh
Lease” and that His Majesty’s Government had then paid
an annual rent of Rs.60,000/- until 1923 when it was
cancelled,
6, The Shaikh then went on to say that the area
in question would also obviously be required by any
Oil Company, operating in Kuwait, but that he thought
it possible (though he was not quite sure) that both
the Royal Air Force and any Oil Company operating could
find room for ther separate requirements side by side.