Page 399 - Bahrain Gov Annual Reports (IV)_Neat

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REVIEW OF 1371

The State of Bahrain throughout the year 1371 was politically tranquil and commercially
active.
The revenue increased and the Government spent more money on social services, public
works and improvements to public utilities. The new boys Secondary School was opened,
three new village schools, presented to the State by the Bahrain Petroleum Company, were in
the course of construction at the end of the year and the medical staff was increased in order to
cope with public health developments. The Government experimented for the first time in a
housing scheme by building a number of small stone houses for letting at low rents to working
men, a project which was found to be extremely popular. It also introduced a loan scheme for
Government employees to assist them to build houses and once again there was a general
increase in wages and salaries.
Apart from the pearl industry, trade was flourishing and developments in neighbouring
states appeared to have no appreciable effect upon the economy of Bahrain. In order to
encourage trade the Government enlarged the customs premises and increased its storage
capacities to enable the merchants to keep their goods for a longer period in the customs.
Customs revenue reached the unprecedented sum of 97 lakhs.

The Government continued to subsidise rice, sugar and meat prices to the extent of some
7 lakhs per annum; during the year it made large purchases of rice and sugar and encouraged
the import of meat by providing sugar at low cost to be used for barter. At the end of 1371
the Government held stocks of sugar which had been bought at a high price and the merchants
were importing sugar at a considerably lower price.

The labour situation was somewhat better than in the previous year. A certain percentage
of the Bahrain Arabs who went abroad to work returned to their own country and heavy
immigration from Oman and the Trucial Coast provided sufficient unskilled workers for local
requirements. To a certain extent the large revenues which were paid by Aramco to the Govern­
ment of Saudi Arabia brought prosperity to more than one community in Bahrain. The
labourers and clerical workers from Bahrain, employed in Saudi Arabia, spent most of their
earnings in their own country, Bahrain fishermen supplied much of the fish to the Aramco i:-
contractors, some 70 Indians goldsmiths working in Bahrain enjoyed a lucrative trade supplying
gold ornaments to Saudi Arabia and Arabs from Saudi Arabia made large purchases of pearls
from Bahrain.

During the latter part of the year negotiations were in progress between the Government
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and the Bahrain Petroleum Company for a further revision of the oil agreement on a 50—50
basis. At the end of the year these negotiations were still in progress, so the budget, which is
shown in this report, does not take into account any additional revenue which may accrue under
the new arrangement.

No final decision was made about two important projects in which the Government has
been interested for some time. The plan and estimates for the deep water pier scheme which
were being prepared by the Government’s consulting engineers did not arrive before the end of
the year but the results of the survey of the site of the pier and the sea around it indicated that
there were no insuperable difficulties to carrying out the scheme. The second project, which