Page 420 - Bahrain Gov annual reports(V)_Neat

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The Government began to sell building plots in East Rafaa in 1952. As had happened
elsewhere there was a poor response in the beginning, but later great eagerness to buy. In the
same year it was decided that the area west of Manama fort which had been leased for 15
years to Cable and Wireless, at what latterly became a nominal rent, should be developed as a
housing area. It was laid out with roads, sections for workers’ houses and for larger houses,
with certain positions which were reserved for schools. The very high rents in and around
Manama produced a demand for small plots of ground for two or three-roomed houses, also
the number of fires in “barasti” areas caused many people to prefer small stone houses to
barastis in spite of the latter being cooler in the summer. Town planning in new areas was
made more easy by the mosaics of Manama and Muharraq which were made for the Govern­
ment by Hunting Airways, who in the following year prepared a new map of Bahrain. The old
map, which was generally in use and which had been reprinted, was made in 1905 by the Survey-
General of India. In May 1953 the Government and the Bahrain Petroleum Company
arranged for Hunting Airways to photograph the remaining parts of Bahrain.
Contrary to expectations there was no decrease in land values in 1955. It had been
thought that the restrictions on the purchase of land by foreigners would cause a drop in values.
The work of the Land Department, though not spectacular, has been of great value to the
landowners of Bahrain and has prevented land grabbing on a large scale which has been known
in neighbouring Gulf States.

LAND DEPARTMENT, 1956
From the report of Mr. Abdel Aziz Saleh, Director of the Land Department.
Registrations Fees
Sales 551 Sales Rs 2,33,776
Titles 230 Gifts and Titles Rs 7,676
Gifts 198
Rs 2,41,452

There was a decrease in the number of sales mainly owing to the effects of recent legislation
which restricted foreigners who acquired Bahrain nationality from buying more than one
residence and one place of business. Fees were lower in 1956 than in 1955 due to the fact that
no big sales were recorded such as one which occurred in 1955 in which the purchase price of a
site on the Manama sea front was 13,40,000 (£100,000).
The total of prices paid for property bought during 1956 was Rs 77,02,383, approximately
£577,000. Land values showed no tendency to drop, but the number of sales decreased. The
following were some of the most important sales which took place during the year :
(1) A plot of open land, reclaimed from the sea many years ago, on the Manama sea front,
was sold for Rs 5,21,962, at the rate of Rs 23/- per square foot.
(2) A portion of a date garden in Zinj, a village on the outskirts of Manama, was sold for
Rs 1,94,430/-.
(3) Another date garden, on the edge of Manama, was sold for Rs 1,40,000. In both
cases the gardens were bought with the object of developing them as building sites for European
style houses. During the year one of the purchasers, having cut down every tree in the garden,
started to build a number of small houses.
(4) Two European style bungalows on Palace Road, Manama, were sold for Rs. 1,40,000
(£10,500). They contained about four rooms.
(5) An Arab house in the Husaini quarter was sold for Rs 1,25,000/-.
The Government sold 149 pieces of land for Rs 2,09,501/-; most of these were building
sites and many were bought by government employees who availed themselves of the building
loan scheme and reduced prices for men with long service. Later in the year sales were restricted
to three areas, land west of Manama fort, previously leased to Cable and Wireless ; land at
East Rafaa and at Suk al Khamis. In all these places the area was planned and laid our with
roads, sites for future schools, dispensaries and police stations and sections for houses of
different types. Conditions of sale included a restriction on re-sale until after ten years, to