Page 119 - Records of Bahrain (6)_Neat

Local administration, 1946-1950 107

q separate officer ought to bo appointed, lie possesses
the artistic temperament and never appears to be in a
hurry. With his long stay in Balirain he has acquired a
kind of oriental evasiveness and will never give a direct
refusal to a request. lie undoubtedly possesses great
ability though it docs not alv/uys appear on the surface and
one of his great assets is his good health, 25 of his 56
years have been spent in Bahrain and he still looks not more
than about 45. Ho excels at keeping the balance between
the demands of the Shaikh and those of Political Officers

und nothing ruffles him. There have been times when both
the representatives of Ilia Majesty’s Government and the
local people have thought he was not going ahead fast
enough. This was particularly the case in the years
immediately after the war whon he was blamed by Political
Officers for not spending enough money, and there was a
serious agitation against him amongst tho local people,
probably due to a large extent to the inadequacy of the
local electric supply. Since then, however, more efficient
personnel are being employed and materials have become more
readily available, and possibly as a result of a certain amount
of prodding in the years 1945 to 1947 the rate of progress
in all branches of tho administration has been gx'eatly
accelerated. There was at one time a proposal to persuade
the Shaikh to appoint an uuuistant to Mr. IJelgruve with a
view to his early retirement, but this has not boon pursued
and there appears to be no reason- why Mr. Belgravo should
not carry on for at least another five years, lie has his

limitations, but the liulor is greatly attachod to him and
ho will be extremely difficult to replace.
2. lie lias been aupportod throughout hin time at Bahrain

by a charming wife who is evon mox’o jealous of his position
/than