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HUBS' '
BIGWdS
MCMIMRY
If Kipling was still living, he!
vyfould almost . certainly write
stimulating poem about, a .recelit
Brifsh expcuitiB®dcr— three roadT i
sweepers (mcphanlcal varlbty)
for Kuwait. .Kipling- loved.,, un-
likely happenings and- contrasts
Y»trpr
— U11U nmw ivunuiw
find herself in need of mechanical
road sweepers would have seem-,
ed most unlikely to 'anyone.
' That is, of course, until, com
mercial oil production Jrom her
single oilfield, of Burgan began In
1946 When- once oil begins flow
ing anywhere— especially- in a
hitherto ? undeveloped country
sweeping changes In all senses of
the word bccome the customary
thing.
'. Even by modern standards Ku
wait has been developed at a
truly astonishing pace: . Perhaps
it - is not quite, so ' astonishing,
when you think of the oil royal- 1
ties now pouring into hcr natiorial
enchequer — at a rate . in excess
of £50 million a year— but it is
still a breathtaking transforma
tion scene nevertheless.
A few years ago, she had no
roads of any description. She
wouldn't have had any use for.
them Is she had possessed them!
Camels v/crc her means of trans
port, and, camels have no trouble
irt plodding across sand.'
But if you want to haul such
oddments as dismantled derricks
or monster stationary dlesel en-|
gines about the desert, you ilnd!
need of something' a little more!
up-to-date than a camel pack- 1
train. The oil men wanted hard!
roads on which lorries and trucks!
could run smoothly. So the road3
came — and' soon KujValts as well
as oil men were making use of i
them. Many a local resident now!
rims his own sleek limousine. '
-'Thero is -a. traditional. Eastern
saying that all things ore with
Allah. The~Kuwalts Uavo wprked;
tills expression overtime in. the
past five or' slx. yeprp. r'The^;sald
it' when the first giant oil-tanker
-^a narkob ^azT-to a Kuwaiti
arrived, 'to. load'.up . Burgahj Oil. I
They saldyt when the oil people!
built an amazing steel jettyf
known ps llie 'Mima al Ahmadll
fahker terminal— walch runs fari
out into the blUd'watfers of th'e
PetSian Gulf.v ?: J |
.. .-Taey.. aiso; sal^: It:-, when - they I
serv numerous /mechanical appli
ances ,th^:^e' ol^ vengineersj .ln-i
,troducedl,iinto.'.tlje. cpuntry.' -InM
: J ' vi^cpr . ouyxx . .1UU1XUCU
themselvies - to operate,. many, of
these, appliances -and', to- control
the powerful 'djinnes' and ''geii
iis'', t))a^-Iurk.withinvthelr metal
fr^es. . . . ? :. . . .... *
. Npv^. there arp road- sweeping
machines, i^oon Jt. will be, some*
thing else equally as'imex^pfted
and ] J\ovel..rBut, whateyer It is,
it is a. virtual' fofegone conclusion
that the. Kuwafts , will accept It
wfffhniit hntHTir/ or* pvMlri ''All
things are 'with Allah — an'd Allah ?
has seht; so many strange 'things :
to gu,\yait lately that its inhabij
tants -are becoming Immune, to
surprise.^ „ 1 -
Also^they have found that all
theses weird \ and ; wonderful -coni- :
traptions 'mean better jiving con
ditions'. and'.greater,- scope for lu
crative employment. -Sb they are
sitting :aound -the .coflee-shop . tar ?
bles in'; the.'bazaars' of their an
cierit ,.wnlledicapltal, speculating ;
idly. '^ust. what new -an^ interest^
ing marvejl' will arrlye ' next . . J
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