Page 260 - Records of Bahrain (6)_Neat

248 Records of Bahrain
THE AGENCY
: BAHRAIN
:
D.O. Mo.C/576. Dated the 4th of Juno, 1946.
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r‘ *>v. .
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; ■ Hi"
Will you please refer to/the correspondence ending
with your printed Letter N0.417-S dated the 6th of April,
1946, on the subject^gf the Bahrain finances?
2. Criticises on Delgruve's work as Finance Officer
have already,been made this year - vide my demi-official
letter No.C/259 dated the 6th March, 1946, to Dir Geoffrey
prior and the enclosures to Residency printed Letter NO.410-S
dated the 5th April, 1946 - and progress in the various
matters is being reported separately. Severe criticisms
are made most years - vide Hickinbotham's letter No.C/393
dated the 21st March, 1945, and pelly's demi-official/letter
No.c/961 dated the 3rd October, 1945, to me - but now/that
the/figures of actual expenditure have been provided (further
comments are called for. £ 3
3. The attached tables of estimates and actuals for 1364
show clearly that the Financial Adviser has once again greatly
over-estimated expenditure and under-estimated revenue, and
for half the heads of revenue the actual receipts range
between half and(half?as much again as the estimates. This
travesties the drawing up of a budget and defeats the purpose
implicit in it, the apportioning of an accurately estimated
income to considered purposes. I do not propose to discuss
here the effect of this on the Bahrain public, but to confine
the subject matter of this letter to the preparation and
\ maintenance of the Bahrain accounts.
V I
4. The State has spent les3 than the s\uns estimated on
Defence, Municipalities, oil Gauging, poor Relief, and
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. Public Health measures (for which, due to prevalent condi­
tions, there may be some justification) and has wound up
the year with‘an allocation of Rs.18,84,548.7.0 towards the
Reserve Fund, an excess of Rs.8,84,548.7.0 over the estimated
figure and over and above the sum paid into the reserve fund
from oil royalties. There seems no good reason why these
•savings' should not be re-allocated in the next budget
i: instead of being lost to the public by being swallowed up
in the general reserve fund, it is true that capital from
the reserve has been used to finance major nublic services
such as the bridge and the elctricity supoly, but those
services are run on a strictly economic basis.
5. It may not be possible to make a separate reserve
fund for all the major heads of expenditure, but I am of
the opinion that separate reserve funds should be started
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for public Health and Public Works. The State Medical
Officer has recently inaugurated a campaign to advance the
/genoral
....
BIW •*r. Y.
The Hon'ble Lt-col. W.R. Hay, C.S.I., C.I.1S., n
political Rosident in tho Persian Gulf, .. ^.3 .........
(Camp) Bahrain. Dc.i:..... ..................
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