Page 329 - Bahrain Gov Annual Reports (III)_Neat

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Among the more important roads built by the municipalities are the Muharraq Sea Road and
the extension from the Manama Sea Road to the Government Hospital, for these works the munici­
palities were given special grants by the Government. Muharraq has the misfortune to be surrounded
on three sides by the sea and expansion is only possible towards the north where the land is liable to
flood during high tides. Some years ago the municipality built sea walls on each side of this low land
which has made the expansion of the town possible, but at present the extension of Muharraq seems
unlikely and the tendency is for the well to do people of Muharraq to drift more and more to Manama
retaining a house in Muharraq to reside in for a few months during the winter and moving their business
premises to the other island. At one time all the Shaikhs of the Ruling Family owned and occupied
houses in Muharraq, now most of these houses are empty all the year round and their owners live in
new houses on the edge of Manama and at Rafaa.

During and after the war the municipalities undertook much work which was not strictly within
their province. They administered, on behalf of the Government, the funds for poor relief and dis­
tributed food to hundreds of poor people every day, they dug trenches in the towns for use in case
of air raids and dealt with much of the rationing arrangements and the sale of foodstuffs, meat supplies,
and barter. Before the Government had its own medical organisation the municipalities were re­
sponsible for anti-malaria measures and later when this work was taken over by the medical depart­
ment the municipalities provided valuable co-operation.

During 1365 no important new projects were carried out by the municipalities. At the begin­
ning of the year road work was restricted owing to lack of transport but in the second half of the year
the Manama Municipality bought three new lorries which made it possible to begin metalling some of
the municipal roads, the one between the the Import Yard and Baladiya road was completed and
work was started on the road between the town and the municipal boundary at the Lunatic Asylum.
Stone for the roads was hauled from the Rafaa hill, sand was carried from Budeya and oil, for surfac­
ing, from the Refinery. The Manama Municipality is making arrangements to buy bitumen spraying
equipment and a number of carts.

Throughout the year there was much building activity in Manama and Muharraq as more labour
and materials became available for constructing houses. In Manama 52 new stone houses were
built and 35 houses were substantially enlarged, often by the addition of first floor rooms.

The Manama Municipality assisted the Government in numbering and registering the buildings
in the two Rafaas, preparatory to setting up a municipality there; 582 houses and 46 shops were
registered almost all of them being stone houses.
The municipalities have always been encouraged to manage their own affairs as much as possible
without interference from the Government, though when they require advice they are given it. In
the early days the Adviser to the Government and frequently the Political Agent attended all the
meetings of the municipal councils with the result that the councils wielded little authority and the
presidents of the councils were presidents only in name. Today the municipal councils are definitely
* public bodies which represent the views of the inhabitants of Manama and Muharraq.