'File F/2 II Miscellaneous Correspondence with the Manamah Municipality' [‎40r] (79/464)

This tax provides their main revenue and
enables them to carry on their work which
I think they do well.
4. The position in Manamah is, 1
imagine, almost unique owing to the number of
foreigners resident in the capital and the
value of the property which is owned by them.
The total number of houses registered in the
municipal ledger is 3,136, of these 1,189
are owned by foreigners and out of the remainder
56 are Bahrain government property, paying
ground rents. This figure includes houses
of every kind and a large proportion are straw
huts. It does not include shops, stores
and offices.
5. -^s far as can be ascertained the
total number of large stone houses which are
let is 310, out of these 120 belong to Bahrain
subjects and 190 belong to foreigners. In
almost every case the tenants are foreigners.
The rent of these houses varies from Rs 10/-
to Rs 30/- per month and it includes such houses
as the one occupied by the Manager of the
Bahrain Petroleum Company and the old Bank.
6. Until 1351 all house taxes were paid
by the tenants. In 1351, mainly owing to my
arguments, a resolution was passed by the
Manamah municipal council to the effect that
the house tax should be paid by landlords.
Ten months later the majlis decided to revert
to the old system. I reported the matter to
the Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. at the time. I n the case of