Page 139 - Records of Bahrain (6)_Neat

Revision of royalties 127

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Confidential. 1 (. ; iW'fT/'-'O i Political Agency,
\* • / Bahrain,
No.C/R-514. 11 i/\\V>28th S opt amber, 3.950.

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I
You asked me tho othor day to find out whether
the Shaikh hud produced any definite plans for the allo­ i
cation of his shore in the increased oil royalties which
will uccrue to him.
2. Bolgravo showed me this morning u six page document
containing all detuils of tho proposed now allcw ances which
had apparently boen writton by the Shaikh in his own fair
hand behind locked doors as he is scared of his proposals
leaking out. Tho main changes aro that the Shaikh Intends
to take over from tho beginning of the new financial
year at Muharram the responsibility for the payment of all
allowances to his family with tho exception of those who
receive a salary from the Dahrain Government for some ;
specific Job; I understand the greater part of these al­
lowances have in tho past come out of tho public purse,
lie also intends to assumo responsibility for the roligious
school, which at the momont costs some 12 to 15 thousand
rupees a month, and which will represent an Increasing
demand owing to the new policy of sending some of the
students to u theological seminary in Mecca.
3. It is true to say that all the allowances hnvo
boen Increased, but by riot nearly as much as one might have
expected. At tho top of tho scule Shaikh Abdullah has
had his allowance increased by Rs.562/- a month, * making
a monthly payment of Rs.12,109/-. His Highness1 brother
Shaikh Mubarak has had his allowance increased by Rs.500/-
m a Icing u total of Its. 2,645/- por mensem. At tho bottom
of the scale the increases run to aboutwRs.100 to Rs.150 a
mouth, which in most cases Just about dubles the allowances. I
You will see therefore that Shuikh Sa'linuri has given aw
extremely smull proportionate increases to the senior momburs
of tho family arid larger ones to tho junior and this is the
reuson why ho is so very upprehensive of announcing his pro­
posals. At the same time, tho total number of family on
the list has been increased from 194 to 236. This increase
is due to the fact that for tho first time he is granting
allowances to unmarried innlo relatives, merely because this
Is done in Qatar at tho moment (and I understand he has
complete details of all tho Qatar allowances) und ulao be­
cause he has started to pay small allowances to his unsup­
ported women relations. The increases allotted are not
necessarily uniform within the limits mentioned abovu, as
the Shaikh has taken into account a number of factors, such
as the amount of estate owned in Bahrain, the trading acti­
vities of the person concerned, otc. The approximate
jj total for tho now list will amount to some Rs.1,78,000/-.
(f\J 3 should add that this docs not Include certain annual bonus
W payments which are varied from year to year so that they
Irj should be considered as a favour and not a right, nor tho
!> r*' annual Its.48,000 paid in half yearly instalments to tho two
uncles.
OVU^ HatuJL
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Sir S8T8SVM; i:.