Page 131 - Bahrain Gov Annual Reports (IV)_Neat

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LAND DEPARTMENT
(From the report by Khan Sahib Mohomed Khalil Memon, Superintendent.)
Registration and Leases.—The total number of registrations during the year was 768, some­
what less than in the previous year ; this included 451 sales, 227 registrations of titles and 80 gifts. Fees
from registrations amounted to Rs. 65,500 which was over Rs. 12,000 more than the amount collected in
1367. The value of the property which was sold was about Rs. 22,00,000, the property which changed
hands included 264 houses, 58 gardens, 22 shops and 76 plots of land. The price of land appreciated
slightly, the highest price paid during the year was Rs. 8 per sq. ft. In the towns of Bahrain land is sold
by the square foot, in the gardens the standard measure is a “ maghris," 18 ft. by 18 ft., which is the area
required for growing one date tree. Among the important sales were, a plot of land on the Jufair road
which was sold as a building site by the Government for Rs. 1,17,000, a house in Ras Rumman which was
sold for Rs. 80,000, and a site on Prior Road, opposite the Law Courts, which was sold for Rs. 98,500.
The Government sold land for Rs. 1,57,000 and let, on long leases, several plots of land for building.
Small plots, with an area of about 1,200 square feet, arc let to persons who build barastis on them at a
monthly rent of Rs. 3. A piece of sea on the edge of the Customs Pier was let to a firm engaged in running
launches between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia for five years at an annual rent of Rs. 3,600. Rents from
five Government shops and a flat produced Rs. 42,285.
Order forbidding sales to Foreigners.—For a number of years the Government has been
concerned at the amount of valuable property in Bahrain, especially in Manama, which has been sold
by Bahrain Arabs to foreigners. During the war and in the years immediately after the war there was
a land boom and land in Manama was bought and sold at an excessively high price, many of the most
valuable properties were acquired by foreigners who paid more for land than the Arabs were prepared to pay.
In Jamad al Thany a proclamation was issued forbidding Bahrain subjects to sell, give or otherwise
dispose of immovable property in Bahrain to persons who were not .Bahrain subjects. The new law will
reduce the revenue of the Land Department, because lately most of the important purchasers of land
have been foreigners, and it is possible that it will cause some lowering in the value of the land. The
object of the law, however, is to keep the land in Bahrain in the possession of the people of the country.
The law does not preclude long leases, but it puts an end to the alienation of land from the possession of
the Arabs into the possession of foreigners.
Town Planning.—During recent years it has become obvious that Manama town is too con­
gested. The bazaar is spreading into what used to be the residential area, few open spaces remain on
which new buildings could be erected, and there is no place for parking the ever increasing number of
motor vehicles. On the Sea Road throe or four plots of ground arc not yet built on, they were bought
and sold at speculative prices during the land boom, in the south-eastern quarter there are a few empty
sites but here too land values are very high. The only direction where Manama can extend is to the south,
from the edge of the town to Shaikh Daij Road, which runs east-west in front of the palace, between
Bclgrave Road and Palace Road. This land, about 30 acres, is owned partly by the Government and
partly by Manama Municipality, which over a period of years has converted much of this land from an
unhealthy swamp into land which can be used for building.
The Government divided the area by wide straight roads intersected by narrower roads and offered
for sale building sites on the new roads at a fixed price of Rs. x per sq. ft. Certain restrictions govern
the type of house which may be built. Three large sections of land on the south side have been reserved
for school buildings, one section will contain the new school hostel and on another section, at a future
date, a new Secondary School will be built. Provision has been made for playgrounds around both
buildings. The remaining land, about 20 acres, is to be developed as a residential area. Already a dozen
building sites have been sold and over 20 applications have been received from people wishing to buy
land. It is not easy, however, to persuade the older Arabs to build houses in a place which is some distance
from the bazaar, schools and offices. Most Arabs prefer to live at close quarters to their neighbours and
at easy walking distance from their place of business, only the more modern minded of them appreciate
the advantages of houses which have open surroundings.
Another development, in the same neighbourhood, is what might be described as the Commercial