§ Mr. W. Hamiltonasked the Minister of Public Building and Works when he expects to complete the erection of staff accommodation at Abu Dhabi; how the provisional estimate of £75,000 was arrived at; and how many staff are expected to be accommodated.
§ Mr. RipponThe provisional estimate of £75,000 was intended to provide two bungalows for United Kingdom based staff and residential accommodation for four locally engaged staff.
The importance of Abu Dhabi as an oil producing centre is, however, increasing so rapidly that our Political Agency is now expected to expand from the present staff of nine to 15 by 1968. I am therefore considering, with my right 52W hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs a phased programme of building work to satisfy long-term accommodation needs. The revised programme of work is unlikely to be completed before 1968 and will cost considerably more than the present provisional estimate for the earlier limited scheme.