'File 11/1 VI Muscat Administration Reports and related correspondence' [‎5r] (9/56)

ocroromiAL.
(^>J
^g^CRT CK T r g:
FOR
\& y
GT^E8AL>
1 * . adranoe towards the dwvelepsezxt of oil has boon
•nywhoro in Sultanate territory inrou^hout the year, and the general
public have begun to think that "oil" will not ootre to Mueoat*
In the North, the Sultan wants the haikha to be left
alone ! untii th ®3 r *'®a4laa that they have no ohanoe of getting
arching except through bin. In the HUqf area, despite hi* prordae
to deviae apache t to enable the prospecting partiee to operate in
saj ety,ha haa so far taken no steps te do so, and it now seen that
4 .v ^ ^ W not be in earnest. In Dhefar indicative are
ococession .ill be given #iilst the rumour find
of oil seepage in Gwadur appears to have died the death afloat niaours.
arousing the interest of the Sultan least of all.
3. The Agricultural Survey of the ^atinah was oosgOeted by
Mr. Hartley, the Director of Agriculture of the Aden Oovernsent, and
his report, full of interest and helpful suggestions, is now before
the Sultan. Se far, however, the only sign ©f ado-ting any of the
suggestions is the importation by a Dubai agent of Tetter pump* and
by . ray 'ackenzie’s of Pustcn & Hornsby pumps for owners of date
■ardens to use on their wells. These have been encouraged by the
Itaacat Government's allowing their import free of Customs duty. About
thirty sxioh pumps have been imported durii* the year, and reports
from the users, including the Shaikh of Wud&am, are satisfactory, the
consensus of opfinic:in being that they are cheaper to work than bullocks.
4# pi I»iofar the only agricultural development has been by the
Sultan, and, aa expected, the Jrovinoe is not likely to yield more than
a large farm.
5* o progress has been made ever the various water schemes for
Sur, j’uacat and 2'atrah and it is thought that l&lloway Brothers*
soher ec v.* re too expensive, and have been dropped; and so far no
alternative has been devised.
tlL » oh « 8 ® to set up a power station at Vtym has also followed
the now al! too familiar process of falling through and instead the
pww r h oy, adjh K «r e rory p^r ^nrlae durinfi the mner #
toe bMO au^e- ted by teo more engines. It is now hoped to mnrnly ell
»?? V** 0 ?* f ° r ®^ e ? trlolty fro “ twu » exoept the Ooneuleteend
^aole & Irelees. It is doubtful hoeever whether this will pro*, to
be the oase. totrah remains power—less*
. Vr ' C*»»rles Kendall, the Muaoat Cewmeent'e london
pun^sing agent, visited Ifasoat early in the year to exasdno conditions
for development of the fisheries. Before leaving he presented the
* *<*“* for •d’ertising and disposing of a monopoly, but
es the Sultan has been under the ipreaaion that he ms gelMto w*
ooncrasion niiaelf, and not merely dispose of it to a third party,
understoo<1 » homercr, that the matter
K “ a * U ^ W ”***** luacat in the
ft... . n ^ the Sultan's hopes ran high for a tine, as, after
visits and surveys by sir qyrU fox, ha had hoped to Interest a ooripeny
• • •
in the lime deposits