Page 381 - PERSIAN 9 1931_1940

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nnlrdil\vFirtS0UVnimnL0CCUfrrCd dUr‘"S th° yCar and °nly ono «1S0 of
mumu was Hied. A number of prosecutions were made bv the Police for
offences against the liquor and drug regulations. Opium valued at several
thousands of rupees was captured during several raids.
ChiJf' \ !JlC}Iiflhraln Petr.oleum Company Limited.—{[) Mr. J. M. Russell
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(in) Towards the end of the year the Company decided to erect a
rennery in Bahrain and large consignments of material were received and
extra staff engaged for the construction work. The Company hopes to have
the refinery completed by the middle of 1930.
(iv) 176,388 tons of crude oil were shipped from Bahrain during the
. . .
. rr
„
year in lit teen tankships of various nationalities (5 American, 6 Norwegian,
1 Danish and 3 British) and the total royalty due to the State amounted
to Rs. 0,18,192-10-5. The net amount received by the State after deducting
the last instalment of a loan given by the Company in 1934 was
Rs. 5,68,192-10-5. J
(v) On the 31st December the Company’s employees by nationalities
numbered :—
Americans ..... 49
European British subjects 20
Indian British subjects . 61
Bahrainis....................................... 1,283
Others (Iranians, ’ Iraqis, Kuwaitis, eto.) 244
In addition to the above 29 watchmen were provided by the Bahrain
Government.
7. Artesian Wells.—Efforts are being made to prevent artesian water
being allowed to escape uncontrolled, but the overflpw from the wells 6till
adds to the difficulties of dealing with malaria.
8. Agriculture.—(i) An experiment was made by the Bahrain firm of
Messrs. A. and M. Yatim, with the assistance of an Indian agriculturist,
to cultivate tobacco. Towards tho end of the year Shaikh ‘Abdullah bin
‘Isa A1 Khalifah also decided with the help of the same agriculturist to
cultivate tobacco and fuel woods on a large scale on his estate south of
Budaiya’, and imported a tractor for ploughing and levelling and drilled
several artesian wells. Unfortunately in both cases the agriculturist proved
unsatisfactory and it is too early to say how the experiments will turn out.
(ii) Tho Bahrain Petroleum Company Limited engaged a ‘landscape
gardener’ to lay down parks, avenues and gardens at the site of their new
camp. The type of soil and nature of the water present great difficulties.
9 Customs.—(i) The customs revenues amounted to Rs. 6,31,779 as
compared with Rs. 6,11,890 collected during the previous year. Of this
amount transit duty on shipments to the mainland amounted to Rs.
84,455-0-0 as compared with Rs. 48,740 collected during the previous year.
(ii) The Bahrain Government issued ’Alans implementing the agree­
ment arrived at during discussions hold in March and April between Bahrain
and Sa’udi Arabian delegations. The ’Alans informed the public:—
(a) that the transit duty on cargo for the mainland which was
transhipped at sea would be 1$ per cent ad valorem instead of
2i per cent, ad valorem hitherto charged,
(b) that the duty on dates would be 5 per cent, ad valorem on the
current market price in Bahrain.