Page 443 - Bahrain Gov annual reports (V a)_Neat

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year if funds were available, was completed and the swing bridge was opened in 1942 and many
new Government buildings were constructed, including the Law Courts, Custom House,
schools and power stations. These were the days when the administration had relatively few
political problems to deal with, the revenue enabled the Government to continue development
at a not too rapid pace which appeared to satisfy the public who could not then compare
conditions in Bahrain with those in Kuwait and Qatar, with the enormous oil revenues which
these other states later acquired.
During 1948-49-50 the revenue mounted slowly ; in 1948 it was 103 lakhs and the oil
royalty and customs receipts produced equal amounts. The country was prosperous and there
was a visible improvement in the standard of living. Land values soared and the Government
introduced a plan for selling building plots to its employees at reduced prices, depending on
their length of service ; it also gave building loans. The object was to encourage small private
ownership of land. During the war the Government had imported most of the essential
foodstuffs and sold to the public at subsidised prices through local retailers. This arrangement
now ceased except in the case of rice and sugar. New works included additional generating
plant for the power house, more schools and more buildings for the medical department.
In 1949 the revenue was 122 lakhs. Customs revenue brought in 10 lakhs more than the
amount from the oil royalty. More dispensaries were built and an isolation hospital for
infectious diseases. Work was begun on the offices at the Bab al Bahrain and many of the
roads were surfaced.
In January 1950 the Bahrain Petroleum Company completed the first 15 years of its con-
cession and negotiations between the Government and the Company resulted in the royalty
being raised from Rs. 3/8 to Rs. 10/- per ton of oil. This sudden increase in wealth introduced
many new and difficult problems. It was a year of active private enterprise, many new shops
and houses were built and the Government started work on the School Hostel and secondary
school, a block of flats for letting, and more accommodation for medical staff.
Next year, 1951, the revenue was 251 lakhs (£1,886,000). In Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait
governments and oil companies were discussing the 50/50 oil agreement by which the govern­
ment and the oil company shared equally the profits. In Bahrain an interim agreement was
made while negotiations were carried on.
In 1952 the revenue was 320£ lakhs and negotiations regarding the 50/50 agreement
continued. More schools were opened, new municipalities were started, an air survey of
Manama and Muharraq was carried out to assist in town planning, blocks of European style
flats were built by the Government as an investment and work was commenced on the palace
on the shore at Kozabeia.
The new oil agreement came into force in 1953. Besides the 50/50 payment on Bahrain
oil it provided for a payment on oil imported into Bahrain for refining from Saudi Arabia, or
elsewhere. Among the public works which were carried out was the building of numbers of
small stone houses, in groups, on the edge of Manama, which were let at subsidised rents to
workers. Each year a number of these houses were built and it proved a very popular project.
In 1954 the revenue was 667 lakhs, about 5 million pounds, but it included certain back
payments by the company. In spite of political unrest there was much development both by
private enterprise and by the Government. The gas-electric scheme was under way by which
electric power was to be generated by gas piped from the oilfield and electricity distributed to
most of the villages in Bahrain. A hospital for diseases of the chest was opened and work was
begun on a large women’s hospital outside Manama, containing about 250 beds. Several new
schools were built and the technical school was enlarged and provided with more up-to-date
equipment. The value of land in Manama rose and sites on the sea front were sold for Rs. 20/-
per square foot, a price comparable with the cost of land in the most expensive part of Baghdad.
The revenue in 1955 was 590 lakhs and the reserve fund contained 916 lakhs. It was a
prosperous year financially and commercially but throughout the year there was political
unrest. The Government .mroduced a generous pension scheme for its employees and con-
tjnued to though the price of materials and the cost of
labour were g hospital was built in E aad many new stone houses sprung up in towns
andJdri*houses^ve^com]5eted,an<l ^iew markets^were'tm'h'^^K.t50*'00'5
T v oroceeded on the 3.000 feet long causeway lead nE un tnV anami *?d
W°r*Pufai, A new pier was built at the customs and thl aPPr° °u the P Wa‘Cr
pier ^prii. ms and the neNV power house came into