Page 168 - Bahrain Gov Annual Reports (III)_Neat

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MANAMA MUNICIPALITY BUDGET, 1364.

Revenue. Expenditure.
Rs. Rs.
Government Subsidy . 36.000 Municipal Staff...................... . 33.ooo
Shop Tax 33.000 Road Cleaning .. . 36,000
House Tax 25.000 Public Lighting . 8,500
Vehicle Tax 8.000 Transport ...................... . 22.000
Meat Market Tax 7.000 Repairing Roads 39.000
Fruit Market Tax 1.000 Municipal Gardens 2,500
Ghee Tax 4.000 Miscellaneous .. 3.000
Wood Tax 4.000 Office Expenses 5.000
Sheep Tax 2.000 Office Lighting, etc. 800
Municipal Rents 1.500 Pauper Burials...................... 3.000
Municipal Garden 1.500 Mission Hospital Grant 300
Barbers' Licenses 100 Repairing Municipal Property 2,000
Bakers’ Licenses 400 Lunatic Asylum 3.5oo
Building Licenses 100 Repairing Rubbish Bins 500
Masons' Licenses 100 Provident Fund 1,700
Pedlars’ Licenses 200 To Muharraq Municipality, share of
Phonograph Licenses . 500 Pedlars’ Licenses........................ 100
Fish Sellers’ Licenses . 50 To Muharraq Municipality, share of
Butchers’ Licenses 100 Ghee Tax ................................... 2,000
Water Carriers’ Licenses 100 To Muharraq Municipality, share of
1.650 Wood Tax................................... 2,000
Lunatic Asylum (Muharraq contri­ To Muharraq Municipality, share of
bution) ................................. i.75o Sheep Tax................................... 1,000
Sale of Ice ................................. 2,500 Upkeep of Sewers and Drains 1,000
Water Rates................................. 1,000 Feeding Destitutes 3.600
Record Tax ................................. 100 Fruit Market................................... 500
Miscellaneous................................. 4.000 Road Widening ........................ 10,000
1,34,000
Surplus of Expenditure 47,000
Rs. 1,81,000 Rs. 1,81.000

MUHARRAQ MUNICIPALITY.

(From the report the Municipal Secretary, Mr. Ahmed al Omran).

Finance. The revenue for 1363 was Rs. 58,600, this was 15 per cent, higher than the previous
year’s revenue and higher than any other year during the sixteen years that the Muharraq Municipality
has existed. Taxes were collected without difficulty owing to the prosperous condition of the towns­
folk, many of the Muharraq merchants acquired sudden wealth from business transactions and both
shopkeepers and labourers earned good money during the year. The number of empty houses
decreased and though no new houses were built owing to lack of building materials there was active
buying and selling of properties. In spite of some opposition the Municipality was able to introduce
a charge for water piped from public wells into private house.
The expenditure during the year was Rs. 63,800, about Rs. 5,000 more than the revenue. In
the 1363 Budget a deficit of Rs. 12,500 had been expected. Owing to the shortage of labour, the
excessively high cost of carrying out any work and because no provision had been made in the Budget
for .npw projects the Municipality confined its activities to essential and routine duties. The high
expenditure was due to the increased rate of labourers’ wages and the high cost of materials. Even
the normal functions of the Municipality such as town cleaning and road repairs cost considerably
more than had been allowed for in the Budget. Municipal sweepers who at the beginning of the year
were satisfied with from 12 to 14 annas a day were receiving from Rs. 1-11 to Rs. 2 a day at the end
of the year. The price of gutch, stone and sand rose steeply, a bag of gutch which at the beginning
of the year cost 10 to 12 annas could not be obtained at the end of the year for less than Rs. 2-12.