Page 435 - Bahrain Gov Annual Reports (IV)_Neat

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DEPARTMENTAL ACCOUNT

Income Expenditure
Rs. Rs.
Balance from 1370 .. 83,533 1 8 Staff Salaries, etc. .. 38,004 13 0
Government Grant 30,000 0 0 Interest on Deposits .. 23,400 0 0
5 per cent. Interest on Loans 84,193 4 9 Fund Collected .. 136,321 9 5

LAND REGISTRATION DEPARTMENT

(From the Report of K.S. Mohammed Khalil Memon, Superintendent, Land Department)
Land Registration.—There were 1,057 registrations during the year. They consisted of 639
sales, 155 gifts and 263 registrations of titles. The properties which were dealt with by the
department included 631 houses, 54 shops, 224 plots of ground, mostly building sites, 118
gardens and 30 miscellaneous types of property. Registration fees amounted to Rs. 1,65,983/-,
about Rs. 71,000/- more than the budget figure. Of this sum Rs. 158,836/- came from fees from
the registration of sales.

Sales and Prices.—The aggregate value of property sold during 1371 was approximately
521 lakhs, almost £400,000/-/-, which is some indication of the high value of land in Bahrain.
In the previous year the value of land which was sold was 30J lakhs. Although this year there
were several important sales which contributed to the high figure yet the following comparative
statement indicates that land values have steadily increased during recent years, except in the
case of date gardens which are no longer a popular investment owing to the very high cost of
labour and the reluctance of the villagers to lease the gardens because they make more money
by working for wages.
Number Registration Price of
Year of Sales. Fees. Property Sold.
1367 807 57,112 17,41,774
1368 758 69,446 21,94,426
1369 773 92,778 21,01,665
1370 869 98,505 30,75,904
1371 1,057 1,65,983 52,50,075
The following were among the most important sales which were registered :—

Three plots of open land on Belgrave Road whose respective areas were 90,000, 32,000 and
89,100 square feet, they were sold for Rs. 2,70,000/-, Rs. 1,60/000/- and Rs. 2,67,300/- in two
cases at Rs. 3/- per square foot and in one case at Rs. 5/- per square foot. Another sale, on
Jufair Road, near the road to the Race Course, included open land and a very indifferent Arab
house which was sold for 2* lakhs at the rate of about Rs. 2/4 per square foot. All the land
which changed hands on Belgrave and Jufair Roads was bought by speculators intending to
build European style bungalows for letting. The ground in this locality is low lying and damp
and there is water close to the surface which complicates the problem of drainage but in spite of
certain disadvantages the road between Manama and Jufair has in recent years become a
popular location for European bungalows.
Government Land Sales.—It is the policy of the Government to encourage Bahrain subjects
to own land and to build their own houses. During the year the Government sold 58 plots of
land many of them being small pieces bought by working men in order to build on them stone
houses or barastis. There were 13 sales on Belgrave and Jufair roads where 3/8 per square foot !
was charged to purchasers who bought land for building houses for letting. Land at Houra,
in the Hussaini quarter and on the edge of Manama was sold at prices varying from Re. 1/- to
-/10 annas per square foot.