Page 167 - Bahrain Gov Annual Reports (III)_Neat

29

MANAMA MUNICIPALITY.
(From the report of the Municipal Secretary, Mr. Mohamed Saleii Shater.)

The revenue in 1363 was Rs. 1,28,000, the principal sources of revenue were ; shop tax, producing
Rs. 33.900* Government subsidy, Rs. 24,000, house tax which produced Rs. 25,000 and a quarter of
the vehicle tax, collected by the Government, which amounted to over Rs. 8,000. The expenditure
was Rs. 1,43,000. The largest items of expenditure were town cleaning, Rs. 29,800, road repairs,
Rs. 26,100, Municipal staff, Rs. 25,700 and transport, Rs. 24,200. Excess of expenditure over
revenue was Rs. 15,000, this was met from the Municipality's reserve fund which at the end of the
year amounted to Rs. 1,16,000.
No important major works were carried out owing to the difficulty in obtaining labour and the
high cost of work and the price of materials. The Municipality confined itself to routine duties such
as town cleaning and keeping roads and streets in as good order as possible.

A portion of the unreclaimed sea shore, inside the Sea Road on the Manama waterfront belonging
to Shaikh Mubarak bin Hamad was filled with stone at his expense and an area on the south of the
town belonging to Khan Bahadur Abdul Aziz al Kosaibi was filled with town rubbish with a covering
of earth also at the owner’s expense. No further progress was made in filling other sections of sea
inside the Sea Road. These areas are all privately owned and the high cost of stone and lack of
transport for carrying sand from Suk al Khamis makes the cost of such reclamation prohibitive.

The usual town cleaning was carried out throughout the year and the streets were watered
during the summer. The lack of cement and both metal and eathenware drain pipes has caused
difficulty over house drainage as gutch is unsuitable for use where it is in contact with water. Over
a hundred householders applied to the Municipality to repair house drains. During the year over
3,000 dead animals were removed and burned at Suk al Khamis. The main sewer from the Municipal
Garden to the sea was cleaned out and a number of masonry rubbish containers were built. New
shelters were erected to protect the trees on the streets. The attempt over many years to grow trees
along the main roads has only met with small success, the proportion of trees which die or are blown
over is extremely high. After each rainy season a number of trees die from salt poisoning which
results from the rain splashing the salty soil against the trees. Several thousands of trees have been
planted along the roads and new trees are continuously being planted but only a few hundreds
are flourishing.
The Municipality continued to take a large and active part in rationing and food control,
not only in Manama but in all the villages in Bahrain island. Ration cards for Manama, the villages
and for Hedd were issued by the Manama Municipality. The Municipal authorities supervised 90
shops where controlled goods were sold and 14 Government ration shops. During the first half of
the year the Municipality arranged the sale to the local butchers of over 17,000 sheep and goats and
1,400 head of cattle and in the second part of the year the Municipality took over the direct purchase
and sale of meat to the public on behalf of the Food Control. The various duties connected with
rationing and food control which are now undertaken by the staff of the Manama Municipality probably
occupy them more than do their normal municipal duties.
On the suggestion of the Government the Municipal Council took up the question of ruined
stone houses which exist in the south districts of the town. These houses have been in a state of
semi ruin for many years and were used for unsuitable purposes. The owners were given a time in
which to demolish them or to repair them or to wall them in, in almost every case the owners walled
them in.
The Council met 17 times during the year and the Inspection sub-committee met 20 times.
During the year the Municipal rules were revised and edited. A war allowance, at the same rate
as that granted in other Government Departments, was approved for the Municipal employees.