Page 98 - Bahrain Gov Annual Reports (II)_Neat

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Upstairs there are four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a largo sitting room,
a dining room and wide verandas, at the back there are a kitchen etc., and servants
rooms, Since the Rest House was opened, it has scarcely over remained
unoccupied.
Manama Fort. Rs. 27,483. The main north wall of the Fort was rebuilt
and a new tower has been erected at the north west corner. The tower is 33 feet
high and contains one large circular room and a stairway up to the roof.
The fort wall has been provided with a ledge extending all round the inside of the
wall sufficiently wide for men to pass along it. The north eastern tower has not yet
been rebuilt.
Three garages were built in the wall of the fort on the western side.

Four small barrack rooms inside the Fort immediately south of the bungalow
were demolished, as they were no longer safe to live in, and new barrack rooms were
built on the same site with three rooms above them attached to the Fort bungalow.

Two barrack rooms were built outside the south wall at the end of the horse
lines for the mounted section and minor repairs and improvements were carried out.

Manama Muharraq Road Rs. 34,802. The road was not extended during
the year. The decision as to ultimate method of bridging the gap has not yet been
made. There are two schools of thought on the matter, one opinion is that the gap
could be safely reduced, by extending the road on each side, thus reducing the
length of the bridge and its cost, the other opinion is that it is inadvisable to reduce
the gap as this might have serious results on the low lying coast of Muharraq and
elsewhere. Arrangements have been made with the firm of Messrs. Coode, Wilson,
Mitchell and Vaughan-Lee, 9 Victoria St. S. W. 1 for the services of a Consulting
Engineer in October 1938 who will visit Bahrain and will report to the Bahrain
Government on the matter. After this report has been seen a decision will be made
as to the type of bridge to be erected.
The expenditure during the year represents the cost of building a solid stone
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and cement parapet along the two sides of the road, the cost of steps which have
been built at intervals and also a semi-circular extension at the end of the Manama
side, which is used as a place for turning cars, and resurfacing the whole road.

Statistics taken during the year show that about three thousand persons used
the road every day and about 350-400 motor cars and buses pass up and down the
voad.

Although motor launches and small sailing boats have almost ceased to ply
between the Manama pier and Muharraq there has been no complaint on the part of
launch owners and boat owners who find sufficient work elsewhere; small sailing boats
which used to carry passengers now bring building stone from the reefs out at sea
-nd juss from Hawar, and the launches find sufficient work plying between Manama,
Muharraq and the steamers which visit Bahrain in greater numbers than before.
Hawar Fort and Pier. Rs. 17,237. Expenditure on the Hawar Fort was not
allocated in the 135G Budget but during the year it was decided that the Police post
at Hawar should be strengthened and that the garrison should be housed in more
comfortable quarters in a building which would be of military use in case of any
emergency. The fort which is situated on high ground above the bay close to the
northern village, commands the pier and is visible from Bahrain. It consists of a
large compound surrounded by a wall, a line of barrack rooms, kitchens, wash houses
etc., and a tower 34 feet high. In the compound there is a large cement tank
capable of holding 2,500 gallons of water which can be used if, as is the case
this year, the wells on the island become dry. The building will accommodate about
thirty men. Some work remained to be finished at the end of the year both on the
fort and the pier which extends into water sufficiently deep for large launches or
sailing boats to come alongside.