Page 440 - Bahrain Gov Annual Reports (IV)_Neat

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During the year 18 men were enlisted in the Police, 13 obtained their discharge and one
man was dismissed. There was an increase of 19 in the number of Naturs.

It continued to be difficult to find suitable local men as recruits for the Police and in order
to prevent any further reduction in the strength a number of foreign Arabs were taken on both
as Police and Naturs. Those enlisted as Naturs were mostly from Oman and the Trucial Coast.
Some of the men who obtained their discharge had long service in the Police. Such men, with
good records, easily obtained highly paid posts in Saudi Arabia or in Kuwait.

Duties.—Standing guards, prison duties, police station personnel, traffic men and patrols
absorbed 144 N.C.O’s and men from the force. Of the Naturs, who arc used mainly as night
guards in the bazaars and in the town, 29 were employed on regular posts in various islands and
at points in the country.
During the year 260 N.C.O’s and men and 5 officers fired the annual musketry course.
30 N.C.O’s and men and 2 officers carried out the machine gun course.

Guards of Honour and mounted escorts were provided on numerous official occasions
and the Police band played frequently at the Palace and elsewhere. The number of men
who were granted leave during the year was 111.

The health of the Police was good, the number of men reporting on sick parade throughout
the year was 2191,giving an average of 6.2 of the whole force; this was slightly lower than in the
previous twelve months. There were 52 admittances to hospital compared with 47 in 1370.
Very few cases of malaria were reported, though some years ago malaria was very prevalent in
the Police lines and in the fort.

Prisoners.—There were 55 prisoners in custody at the end of the year, during the year 178
persons were received in the jail, many of them being sentenced to periods as short as one week.
The number of persons who are convicted each year varies very slightly. Prisoners from Jida
island were employed in the Budaiya Garden and in repairing the Budaiya pier. As most of the
prisoners are sentenced to short terms it is not possible to organise regular prison occupational
training.

Rations and Stores.—Only rice was bought from the Food Control Department, other
supplies were purchased from the bazaar. Police on outpost duty were issued with 630 rations
and Naturs were issued with 336 rations. No change was made in the scale of rations or prison
diet. Included in stores and equipment which were bought in the United Kingdom were
woollen jerseys, blankets, ammunition and armourers tools; Pakistan supplied shorts and shirts
for prisoners.

Pay and Allowances.—The pay and allowances of Police and Naturs were once again
increased. Police received an addition of Rs. 10/- per month in pay and Rs. 18/- per month in
ration allowance. Naturs pay and allowances were increased by Rs. 18/- and Rs. 7/- per month.

The present rates of pay are as follows :—
Constable :
Basic Pay Rs. 100/-
Ration Allowance 80/-
180/-
Good Conduct Allowance after one year’s service.. 3/-
Annual increment at Rs. 2/- after each year’s service 16/-
19/-

Maximum 199/-