Page 235 - Bahrain Gov Annual Reports (IV)_Neat

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that some of the money which has boon obtained by the sale of this land will be spent on making
metalled roads and providing main water and electricity in the new streets. The success of this town
planning experiment has been surprising. A few years ago nobody would have considered the idea
of putting up a house in this area but after one or two people bought building plots on the new roads
there was an immediate demand for land.
Almost the only other area, close to the town, belonging to the Government, is the land to the
south of the Manamah—JRafaa road from the edge of the town to the T.B. Hospital. This area was
let to Messrs. Cable and Wireless, Ltd., on a 15 years’ lease which expires in 1951. The Government
has under consideration the development of the land adjoining the main road as a site for buildings.
During the year the Government negotiated for the purchase of a tract of land on the shore at
Godhabia which originally belonged to the Bahrain Government but was sold to the British Govern­
ment some eighteen years ago. The re-purchase of this property was not completed by the end of
the year. The old Quarantine Station, a large compound containing some buildings, at the shore
end of the B.O.A.C. jetty, which was bought by the Bahrain Government from the British Government,
was taken over during the year. This property too originally belonged to the Bahrain Government
and was sold many years ago to the British Government.
The widening of the bazaar section of Barrett Road was completed and a line of new shops was
built on each side of the street, the shops being of uniform height and design. The road was widened
to 24 feet. This improvement to the bazaar cost the Government Rs. 56,800. Payments for compen­
sation amounted to Rs. 1,18,713 but Rs. 61,830 was recovered by sales of frontages on the widened
street to owners of buildings who previously had no access to the new street. The negotiations and
assessments for this work were carried out by the Department with the help of a committee of local
notables.
Rent Assessment Committee.—Two years ago there was a very acute shortage of houses
for letting in Manamah and constant complaints were made by tenants, usually foreigners, that
landlords were charging extortionate rents and raising rents. The situation has now become very
much easier owing to the number of new houses which have been built for letting. A permanent
committee was set up to deal with disputes between landlords and tenants. During 1369 the com­
mittee examined 13 eases of which ten were referred to it by the Agency Courts and three by the
Bahrain Court. All the houses except one were situated in Manamah.
Legislation.—A proclamation was issued in the month of Ramadhan requiring all persons
intending to build houses in certain areas and on certain roads in Manamah to submit plans to the
Government for approval before being permitted to build. Another important proclamation was
issued forbidding mortgages of living houses except in the ease of persons owning more than one house.
The restriction applied previously only to houses which were mortgaged for diving debts, the new
order forbids any mortgages of living houses. The order was directed against money lenders who
took mortgages on houses, charging excessively high interest, and frequently evicted the debtors from
the only home which they possessed.

PASSPORT DEPARTMENT
(From the report of Mr. Kadhim Al-Asfoor, Passport Officer.)
The total revenue collected by the department was Rs. 49,100 which was about Rs. 5,000
more than the revenue in 1368. The cost of the department was Rs. 52,900. It is hoped that even­
tually the department will become self supporting. The main sources of income were from Book
Passports and Travel Passes. 1,370 of the former and 5,650 of the latter were issued. Another source
of income was from endorsements ; a fee of Rs. 2 was charged for adding further details not originally
included on passports such as names of wives and children or countries not previously specified. The
people of Bahrain travel more than they used to and they go further afield. During the summer many