Page 626 - PERSIAN 8 1931_1940_Neat

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Judiciary.—Aqai Ghayasi the chief judge of the Appellate Court was m
control of the Judicial Department until transferred to Tabriz in June. The.
Kerman Appellate Court ceased to function in August. Appeals from the loe.il
court8 now lie at Isfahan.
Tehran officials twice inspected the working of the Kerman courts during;
the year.
No important case involving British subjects came before the courts during
11)39.
Police.—Major Yusuf Bahraini held the post of Chief of the District Police
throughout the year. He is popular with the inhabitants but his relations with
some of the officials are not so cordial. Under the present Chief’s guidance the
polico are usually courteous and obliging toward* this Consulate and its staff.
Posts and Telegraphs.—The services of this department were satisfactory
so far ns the Consulate was concerned. There were no cases of tampering with
Consulate mail.
Education.—Aqai Mnvcl Tuwasknni was succeeded by Aqai ICasrawi in
August as Director. This is regarded locally as a change for the better.
In January the department observed the anniversary of the Iranian
unveiling, hut there was not much enthusiasm ; the severe weather may have
had something to do with it.
Children under 16 years of age were prohibited from attending the cinema.
No additional schools were opened during the j'oar ; one private school was
closed owing to the headmaster faking examination papers.
Municipality.—A new Committee was nominated in April
A grant of rials 750,000 was made by the Ministry of Interior for town im­
provements but financial stringency at the Centre in September reduced the
amount to rials 50,000.
The proposal to provide a better drinking water supply for the town remains
at the discussion stage.
Work has begun on a new wide thoroughfare running northwards from the
centre of the town. For this a grant of rials 120,000 has been received.
All lunatics at large were rounded up and despatched to the asyiurn at
Isfahan.
The covered bazar is noticeably cleaner than it used to be.
Health.—Dr. Vnkili, educated in Germany and murried to a German, was
in charge of the Health Department. The Department inspects bakers',
barbers’ and coffee shops once a week and prostitutes twice a week f
A quantity of anti-opium drug of German manufacture was supplied by
Tehran for distribution among addicts but opium consumption remained steady.
There were no serions epidemics during the year.
Agriculture.—From the beginning of the Iranian year, 22nd March, the local
department was done aAvay with and agricultural matters became the direct
concern of the Ustandar and his Agricultural Adviser. Agriculture was to plav
a prominent part in the Ustandar’s 3-year development scheme and to this end
lie loured in most of the agricultural centres of the Ustan. A grant of rials
600,000 was received for agricultural purposes and from this sum advances were
made to cotton cultivators.
The Government has sanctioned an extension of poppy cultivation which
they curtailed the previous year. Opium consumption in this district, in­
cluding Sirjan, Bam, Shahdad, Jiruft and Budhar, amounts to about 14,000
niaunds per annum (91,000 lbs). About half this amount is monopoly opium
and the remainder smuggled stuff.
Industry and Developments.—There are no important industrial develop­
ments to record. Jt is reported that German engineers examined iron ore
deposits in the neighbourhood of Sirjan but the results arc not known.
Work continued during the summer at the Bahr Asman copper mine hut
there are as yet no indications that it has met with any special success.
A limited quantity of eoal is being excavated about 15 miles N. W. of
Kerman. A sample tried by this Consulate was very poor.