Berni,
I was there in '65, just when they started to look for oil, was in the RE's then and was seconded to the Trucial Oman Scouts, to help set up a Badger "flash distillation plant", for the T O S, at a place called Mirfa right on the coast, we had to go 18 miles with a 200 gallon bowser to get water, before the plant was up and running
Dubai only had 5 miles of "black top" roads then, Sharjah had a salt water system for washing, the special soap cost a bomb, and was like green Palmolive soap with sand in it, now look at the place
Think I preferred it how it was
Also did a spell in the middle of Saudi in '75 another eye opener, concrete block built water tanks in the "ground" sand more like it, right next to the septic tank
Sorry forgot to say when in the Trucial Oman, they were fighting over the only oasis for miles around, with the Omanies, it was usually settled by the British training parties getting on the radio to their opposite number in the other army and arranging a truce, which lasted a few months, by getting both sides to share the oasis, on a week, and week about on who has the water