Page 452 - PERSIAN 8 1931_1940_Neat

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0. Municipalities —Manamah.—A large area of the swamp behind the
Mission building, municipal property, was filled in with stone. Owing to
the abnormal heavy rains the reclaimed area has become covered with water
again.
Crude oil is being used on stagnant water near the town and it is gene­
rally said that there are many less mosquitoes than there used to be
A number of roads have been widened and some new roads have been
built such as one through Ras Rumman which joins the Manamah-Muhar-
raq road, and a diversion of the Manamah-New Camp at the placo where
the new Direction Finding Wireless Station is being erected.
Shaikh ’Abdullah bin ’isa acted as President of the Council for eight
months during Shaikh Muhammad’s absence from Bahrain.
The original subsidy of Rs. 2,000 per month was paid to each of the
Municipalities from 1st Muharram 1355. This payment had been reduced
to Rs. 1,000 per month at the time when cuts were made in all departments.
The Council decided to discontinue the method of employing a contrac­
tor to do the town cleaning and undertook the work itself.
Muharraq.—In Muharraq little has been done during the year except
the normal town cleaning and some widening of roads and filling in of the
creek at the Muharraq landing place. The municipality undertook a spe­
cial programme of work in Hedd which they have now completed. The
main street was widened1 to allow cars to reach almost to the end of the
town, the large sewer in the middle of the town has been filled in with
stone and mud, and is now used as a road, and a dispensary was opened in
some buildings which were taken over by the Government for a debt.
10. Public Works.—Work on the following buildings, etcetera was
carried out during the year :—
(1) Manamah-Muharraq road completed except the parapet, up to
the channel.
(2) New Customs House.
(3) Repairs to Fort including a barrack room and armoury.
(4) Dispensaries at Naim and Bilad al-Qadim.
(5) Two shops in Barrett Street.
(6) Wall in front of the palace and interior repairs.
(7) Usual repairs and upkeep of buildings.
(8) Repairs on Budaiyah road..
11. Electric Department.—The Electric Department made a slight
profit after paying depreciation and all expenses and it is expected that
there will be a larger profit in future years.
The staff of the department are continually occupied in wiring more
premises and the number of people who use electricity for lighting is
steadily increasing but unfortunately the revenue does not increase in pro­
portion because there is a tendency to replace high powered lamps by cheap
Japanese low power lamps. During the year a new ice plant was purchas­
ed by Manamah Municipality and installed in the power-house. During
the year the Jufair Naval Base was connected with a load of 10 kilowatts
and a printing press with a load of 3 kilowatts.
A new telephone exchange was installed during the year and a day,
and ni"ht service was introduced at the same time. The Manamah ex­
change is now linked up with 114 lines including those of the Bahrain
Petroleum Company.
12. Education—All schools show an increased attendance. The
K1- nrf% -fill asking for more advanced education and especially mstruc-
[ion in English The opening of small country schools at Budai'yah and

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