File 4613/1919 Pt 8 'MESOPOTAMIA: ADMINISTRATION: LAND ACQUISITION OF LAND AT MAGIL: INCIDENCE OF COST' [‎79v] (160/192)

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therefore recommend that with a view to expediting disposal of f the H ^ at er A • ^
Commander should accord his sanction to the carrying out of the acqu
and the debit of the cost in the first instance to military estimates, as bei g
frimafacie work undertaken as a result of military operations and at the
instance of the military authorities. As soon however as the money has been
paid and the transaction closed, l would propose with the approval of the A y
Commander to approach Government with a view to obtaining their sanction t
the debit of the whole cost of the land mentioned m paragraphs 2 and 4 abo e,
to the Revenues of the Occupied Territories. This procedure will be in accor
dance with the recent ruling of the Government of India on the subject.
(Sd.) P. z cox,
Chief Political Officer*
Note on the proposed Acquisition of land in the Magil Area.
1. General (a).—I have during the past fortnight made a detailed inspection
of the whole Magil area from the Jubaila creek on the South to the boundary ot
Garmat Ali on the North and have prepared a record of rights for the whole
area except the Jubaila tract, which may, I think, be taken t0 be complete at
any rate for acquisition purposes though not perhaps as a final authoritative
record, the preparation of such a record being unnecessary until^ Government
decides how much of the area to acquire. The record of rights is attached to
this note as Appendix “ A.” The survey numbers given therein refer to the
holdings marked out and numbered after local inspection on the 16 inch map
repared by the Survey Department.
(b) The Magil area is roughly about 2000 acres in extent and is bounded
on the North by Garmat Ali, on the East by the Shatt-al-Arab, cm the South by
the Jubaila creek and on the west by the desert from which it is separated by a
Rofa or embankment. It comprises the following sub-divisions nameiy.— -
(1) the jubaila tract about 600 acres,
(2) the tract between the Rumaili and Abul Sabur creeks,
(3) the tract between the latter creek and the Garmat Ali boundary.
The area of the last two together is just over 14 00 acres.
(c) The whole area is demarcated by a red pencil line on the accompanying
map ; the area which has already been or should certainly be taken up for military
purposes is demarcated by a blue pencil line. The area between the blue and
red pencil lines has not been occupied except for a few. small patches in the
Jubaila tract, which should, I thmk for reasons to be explained later, be evacuated
if possible. These two areas have been roughly sub-divided by red ink lines
to shew the comparative values of the various sub-divisions according to my
estimate, each sub division being designated by the letters A, B, C or D
in accordance with its classification in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th class respectively
for valuation purposes. Each class has been further sub-divided into
homogeneous blocks to facilitate a decision as to what areas to acquire, such
sub-divisions being numbered 1, 2, 3, etc.
2. Proposals regarding Acquisition.- (a) It has not yet been made clear
whether acquisition proceedings are to be confined to the immediate and future
requirements of the military situation or are intended to be at least to some
extent of a speculative nature with a view to possible future developments in this
area in the event of our occupation becoming permanent, in which case, of course,
there can be little doubt that Magil will become a very important commercial
centre. I gather however that, while the immediate object of the proposed
acquisition is essentially military, the desirability of keeping the other point of
view in mind has not been overlooked.
(^) Whatever the object in view there can be no question but that the
whole of the central or blue pencil area should and must be acquired. A very