Page 421 - Bahrain Gov annual reports (V a)_Neat

81

In 1927 a Municipality was started in Muharraq, without opposition, and in 1945 Hedd
Municipality began as a separate institution ; ten years later a Municipality was started in
Rafaa. There is now some demand among the villages for local municipalities.
Municipal revenues come from the subsidies which arc paid by the Government from
taxes on houses, shops and markets, and from various fees and dues, some of which are equit­
able and some of which are unfair. Many of the exemptions which are granted apply to
persons who can most easily afford to pay such taxes. All the municipalities have in recent
years shown an increasing tendency to expect larger payments from the Government and to
show increasing reluctance to depend upon local taxation which in many cases is ridiculously
low.
With a few notable exceptions the municipal councils have over the last two decades shown
a complete lack of public spirit and have allowed their decisions to be governed by private
interests. Because the councillors take small interest in municipal affairs, too much authority
has been left in the hands of permanent officials. Though the public complain about the
municipalities when elections are held they display complete apathy over the elections, unless
there is some political or religious factor involved in the issue.
The most important of the duties carried out by the municipalities is town cleaning which
is very well done in the principal roads and streets ; it is usually combined, in Manama and
Muharraq, with reclaiming land on the sea-shore. The town rubbish is used as filling, and
earth and sand are put on top of it. In this manner several valuable sites have been acquired by
the municipalities. Other duties which they perform include fire services and inspection of food
shops, markets, and restaurants, unfortunately, however, they have in the past shown a disin­
clination to co-operate with the public health authorities so the inspections are of little value.
Sub-committees deal with the finances and other sub-committees inspect buildings and roads
and report upon disputes between neighbours, usually about windows overlooking house
compounds. The main town roads are made and kept up by the Public Works Department,
but the municipality deals with the second-class roads and streets inside the bazaar and the old
part of the towns. In recent years most of these streets have been surfaced.
During the last two years the Manama Municipality has been operating with a skeleton
council consisting entirely of Sunni Arabs. Elections are overdue but when they should have
been held the Sunni Shia trouble made an election impossible and when, later, it was again
proposed that elections should be held the National Union Committee so intimated prospective
candidates that nobody agreed to stand.

HEDD MUNICIPALITY, 1956
From the Report of Shaikh Rashid bin Khalifah, Chairman of the Municipal Council.
The Hedd Municipality carried out its normal duties without interruption and, as in the
case of Rafaa, there were no resignations of members due to political pressure, although some
of the Council members did receive threatening letters. The town was kept in a clean condition
and the usual municipal functions were performed.
The revenue exceeded the expenditure by Rs 15,000. In the budget for 1957 the anticipated
revenue is Rs 43,000 but expenditure is expected to exceed the revenue by Rs 10,000. The
budget includes the provision of Rs 18,000 for widening streets.
It is difficult not to suppose that the practice of some of the municipalities who invariably
show a deficit in their budgets is not intended to persuade the government to increase the
subsidies. In some cases the deficit occurs because large unessential schemes are provided for.