Page 523 - Bahrain Gov Annual Reports (I)_Neat

521
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ror sometime 1 have Jiade u record 01 the debts
ol' aivers whose books have passed tnrcugn the

office ana i have taken the average cl' about
buu divers' debts. .according to these figures
the average diver owes to the nakhuaa about
Rs 507/-. This is the first time that such

figures have been examined anu i think it is
a very fair indication of the average diving
debt. 'The list also inciuues eight oia aivers
each of whom owes ever ...» s,uuu/- ana nine who

are over i,uou/-.
li. although it isover ten years since Major
Lfeiy introduced the diving reforms yet stin

some of the nakhuaas, those whose treatment
of divers was most notorious in the past, try
constantly tc evade or to up-set the regulations,
one of the new rules which was most beneficial
to the aivers was the one by which the heirs oi

the dead diver we re no longer made responsible
for his debt to the nakhuaa. at present some
of the Maharaq nakhudas are agitating for this
rule to be abolished. The protection of the

interests of the divers is a thankless task,
the divers themselves ao not realise that their
interests are being safeguarded, they are utterly

improvident ana never think* oi the iuture, the
nakhuaas and pearl merchants, with a very lew
exceptions, are callous ana selfish ana although

the huler is sympathetic towards .the divers in
principle he is liable to be influenced by the
arguments of the nakhuaas in individual cases.