Page 64 - Bahrain Gov Annual Reports (IV)_Neat

62
In addition to the per capita wheat ration a number of licensed bakers in Manamah, Muharraq
and Hcdd were issued with wheat at the scale of 4 lbs. per head of the adult population for making
bread which was sold to the public, off the ration, at a controlled price and weight. During the
last two months of the year an additional 4 lbs. per head for each adult ration holder in the villages
was issued to the bakers at the request of the village members of the Food Committee. In only
two or three of the Bahrain villages which number about 100 and contain abcut half of the population
are any bakers to be found. The country people depend upon Manamah and Muharraq for their
bread supplies and use most of their wheat ration for making a form of porridge.
The ration of cereals is now inadequate. It was scarcely sufficient when it could be supple­
mented by purchases of rice from the bazaar but during most of the year the price of rice was too
high for the pocket of the ordinary man. When a quota of cereals was first allotted to Bahrain,
during the war, the population was considerably less than it is today.
Wheat prices rose during the year, owing to the higher cost at the source of supply, but wheat
continued to be very much cheaper than in neighbouring countries, mainly because it was bought and
sold by the Government directly to the public without passing through the hands of merchants and
brokers. The same wheat from the same source in a neighbouring country was sold to the people for a
price greatly in excess of the price of wheat in Bahrain.
During the summer the comparative cheapness of wheat in Bahrain caused a revival of smuggl­
ing. Wheat was taken in lorries to points on the coast and shipped to Saudi Arabia. To prevent this
leakage it became necessary to set up police posts on some of the main roads, to search lorries and
buses and to increase the sea patrols. Simultaneously with the rise of wheat prices abroad the bakers,
mostly of Persian origin, demanded more wheat. They asserted that the quantity of wheat which was
issued to them was insufficient to produce the necessary amount of bread. There was every reason to
believe that much of the wheat which was issued to them was being sent out of the country. Members
of the Food Committee negotiated with the bakers, unsuccessfully. Finally the bakers closed their
shops and went on strike. For a day or two there was no bread. The Government then ejected the
bakers from their shops and installed a sufficient number of Arab bakers in charge of the ovens. Flour
was supplied by the Government and the bakers worked under police supervision. Although only
about one-third of the ovens were in use yet, there was sufficient bread for the people. Within ten
days all the bakers came back to work and conditions returned to normal.

At the beginning of Ramadhan, the ninth month of the year, permanent ration cards were
issued to the people of Manamah, Muharraq and Hcdd instead of monthly cards. This made possible
a reduction in staff and did away with the delays which occuiTed in the past over the issue of ration
cards. Under the new system cardholders were assigned to specific shops and the public were informed
by proclamations at the beginning of each month what rations they would be entitled to buy. The
system worked well and was, later, adopted in the villages. When rationing was first introduced,
during the war, shopkeepers showed the greatest keenness to be granted permission to sell rations.
The position has now changed. Shopkeepers now display no eagerness and are reluctant to become
authorised ration-sellers because their profits on the sale of rationed goods are strictly controlled and
they can make larger profits on other sales.
Cloth rationing continued during the year and the public were issued with Bafta, Sawahili,
Prints and Voiles. There were heavy imports of piecegoods from Great Britain, the United States
and Hongkong and frequently the public failed to buy the rationed Indian piecegoods but bought
European material instead. At the end of the year certain stocks of rationed piecegoods, which were
unsold, were allowed to be exported and used as barter. According to present indications it is likely
that cloth rationing may be discontinued next year.

Towards the end of the year the Government applied for the whole sugar quota for 1949
also put in a demand for a rice quota. If these two commodities are obtained it is hoped that the
Government will be able to effect some reduction in the cost of living both by selling rice at a reasonable
price and by using some of the sugar as barter for imported foodstuffs.