88 but it was a means of airing ideas and dissipating primitive fears. The Political dugent welcomed this and said he had got the merchants together - without the Ruler - and over dinner they had discussed problems. He welcomed Mr. Mackaskili's suggestion and it was agreed that to be of real use the Ruler should be there. Contractors 18. The only contractors operating in debu Dhabi at present were reported to be Cono T. Company, Fullbrook (Gulf Construction Co. Ltd.) and Khan Sahib Hussain. Costains had withdrawn to Sharjah. Wimpey's were on Das Island. 19. There was a short discussion of the sort of building boom, both public and private which was likely to start once the embargo on building was lifted. The Political gent outlined the present ideas regarding town planning and design control. 20. The Economic Secretary outlined the value and nature of the building projects scheduled in the development plan and mentioned PDTC's oil terminal project. He asked whether existing contractors, mentioned above, stood a reasonable chance of securing some of the projects. It was agreed that there would be a great influx of labour - skilled and unskilled -- into Abu Dhabi. The local labour force was totally inadequate. The Ruler was not always pleased to see foreign labour being brought in, but failed to appreciate that this was necessary in the absence of an adequate, indigenous labour force. Those attending the meeting said they were doing what they could to train up ibu Dhabi nationals - it was a slow process. Mr. Mackaskill reminded the meeting that Dubai had faced a similar but smaller development problem in 1958/59 and, because of the Ruler's enlightened policy, labour had flowed in to meet the demand. It was pointed out that Abu Dhabi nationals did not like ordinary labouring. In any case as Mr. Clarł pointed out a town of 4,000 could not produce more than about 400 labourers. و 21 Taxation Discussion of this item showed that the Ruler's former levy of 20 to 25% of a merchant's profits as a tax, was giving way to a lump sum payment by new firms of anything from Rs.15,000 to Rs.20,000. There was no general policy. 22. In addition, there are certain municipal' taxes, e.g. a sanitation rate of Rs.50 per month in return for which no services seem to be provided.
