Page 422 - Bahrain Gov annual reports (V a)_Neat

82
MANAMA MUNICIPALITY, 1956
(From the Report of Mr. Mohammed Saleh, Municipal Secretary)

The total revenue in 1956 was Rs. 11,68,000 (about £86,000) of which Rs. 4,25,000 was
from shop tax, Rs 4,32,000 from house tax, Rs. 1,40,000, Government subsidy and Rs 40,000
from rents of municipal property.
The expenditure was Rs 11,49,000 of which Rs 2,71,000 was paid in salaries, Rs 4,24,000
was the cost of town cleaning, Rs 1,58,000 was spent on roads and streets and Rs 1,17,000 on
fire services and on watering trees on public roads, many of which are pulled up and destroyed
as soon as they have taken root. The sum of Rs 50,000 was set aside towards the cost of
building new municipal offices. The government informed the municipal council that it
proposed to give to the municipality a site on the western sea road, beyond the Eastern Bank, on
which the new offices could be built. The ground would first have to be reclaimed from the
sea by filling in the same way as was done when the Customs House and Law Courts were built.
If shops were built under the offices a substantial rent could be obtained from them.
In the budget for 1957 another Rs 50,000 is earmarked for the proposed new building.
Owing to the disturbed conditions during part of the year the activity of the Municipality
was somewhat curtailed. A small group of Council members continued to carry on but
municipal elections, long overdue, were not held. At the end of the year His Highness nomin­
ated new members to carry on the work for a year, after which time elections would take place.
Only routine work was carried out and during most of the year the direction of affairs was left
to the permanent staff.
Trouble with tenants of the fruit and vegetable markets, which were recently built by His
Highness, was more or less continuous. The stall-holders resisted every effort of the municipal
authorities to enforce regulations about hygiene and cleanliness and the new buildings soon
became as dirty as the old market had been. More than once the municipal authorities had
to call on the police to enforce municipal rules.
The meat market, also the property of His Highness, and the fish market, owned by Shaikh
Daij bin Hamed, were both rebuilt by the landlords.
During the various strikes and disturbances which occurred in 1956 the municipality
carried on its usual duties with only slight interruption.

MUHARRAQ MUNICIPALITY, 1956
From the Report of Mr. Musaad Zayani, Secretary to the Municipal Council.
Finance. The finance committee of the Municipal Council when preparing the budget
for 1956 anticipated a deficit of 1£ lakhs. Revenue had been estimated at 3} lakhs and expend­
iture at over 4 lakhs. Several major works had been included which obviously could not be
carried out without incurring a large deficit. The year ended with a deficit of only Rs 35,842
because the ambitious projects which had been recklessly included in the budget were not
embarked upon. Revenue was Rs 313,000 and expenditure Rs 3,49,000. At the end of the
year the Municipality’s reserve fund was Rs 97,000.
Town Cleaning. The Municipality did its utmost during the year to keep the town clean
in spite of the small number of employees who were used for the purpose. The 85 men who
were employed included sweepers, donkey-cart drivers and lorry men, the average daily attend­
ance was 70-75 working men.
Roads. Plans for opening up new roads through the town were not carried out.
General. Municipal inspectors condemned 350 maunds of fruit which was on sale in the
vegetable and fruit market.
The Municipality spent Rs 4,720/- on pauper burials. In the past charitable Arabs used
to provide for these burials which arc now regarded as a municipal responsibility.
The Council met 18 times during the year and the finance committee held five meetings.
The Inspection Committee was called 23 times to inspect buildings whose owners applied for
permission to make structural changes.
We hope that the year 1957 will be better than 1956.