'Reports of administration for 1918 of divisions and districts of the occupied territories in Mesopotamia. Volume I' [‎123r] (250/470)

ment of the gram and food situation this year, compared to that prevailing at the
same time last year (when the district was suffering severely from the effects of the
war and when great scarcity prevailed), is very marked.
The readiness with which engines for irrigation are applied for and purchased
by the local inhabitants is encouraging, showing the readiness of the Arab cultivator
to realise the value and superiority of agricultural machinery over old methods.
Including that of the Shaikh Habib grass farm, there are already six pumping engines
situated in the district, while six more have already been applied for through Govern
ment. Two more are also being privately obtained by the Bait Kuyumjian estate.
There should be a profitable future for agricultural machinery in this country.
Regarding Government farms, the Fallujah vegetable farm has been an
unqualified success, supplying vegetables to the greater part of the division.
The Shaikh Habib grass farm has been extremely successful, but may possibly
be discontinued soon. In this event, it is hoped to sell the engine and farm as it
stands to a local inhabitant willing to take it over. Bids have already been received.
The provision of an oil depot at Fallujah for agricultural and civil purposes has
been a great convenience compared with the old method of transporting oil fuel
from Baghdad by road under private arrangements.
5. Municipalities.— The two municipalities in the district are Fallujah and
Saqlawiyah; Fallujah being a small town with a population of 2,000, and Saqlawiyah
being a village of some 400 inhabitants.
Both baladiyahs are in reality self-supporting, but the Sinn al Dhibban bridge
toll, formerly credited in Saqlawiyah baladiyah funds, has recently been credited
to Military Estimates, and a grant in aid of the same value has now been credited
to Saqlawiyah monthly to replace the deficit.
In Saqlawiyah the taxes are collected under the Rais Baladiyah from ardhiyah,
paswaniyah, butchery fees, &c. The financial position of Saqlawiyah baladiyah
is satisfactory, showing a credit balance at present of well over Rs. 900.
In Fallujah the taxes are farmed as regards the following :—ferry toll, ardhiyah,
butchery fees, weighing fees, maidaniyah, and paswaniyah, at favourable prices,
while supervision renders it impossible for the tax collectors to charge more than
their dues.
The Fallujah Baladiyah also possesses shops whose rentals bring in Rs. 112/-
per month. The Baladiyah is singularly self-supporting and prosperous for so
small a town, the monthly receipts being roughly Rs. 1,000/- and the expenditure
roughly Rs. 500/-. The present credit balance of the Fallujah Baladiyah funds is
well over Rs. 5,500/-.
The market is prosperous and the town is, if anything, overcrowded. Govern
ment-owned buildings of a suitable pattern, to be rented to the local inhabitants,
would be an immediately remunerative and beneficial investment to expend
baladiyah funds upon, when these funds increase somewhat.
6. Judicial. —Judicial work here this year calls for very little comment. The
inhabitants of the district have been singularly law-abiding on the whole. As
already mentioned, cases of theft from camps are of frequent occurrence, but thieves
are seldom arrested.
The inhabitants continually bring forward petitions claiming restitution of
property appropriated by others (some of these cases having long histories), and
these cases are comparatively easily settled. No serious cases have been tried
during the past year.
As already stated elsewhere, it is noticeable that the local inhabitants realise
the benefits they reap through living under a strong Government with easily-
accessible justice.
7. Education. —The question of starting a boys’ school in Fallujah was referred
to the Education Directorate this year, but had to be temporarily abandoned owing
to the impossibility of obtaining a properly-trained teacher.
In the meantime, reading and writing in Arabic is carried on under the local
mudarris. It is hoped that a Government school will be started at the earliest
possible date next year.
8. Medical and Sanitation. —The civil dispensary is here, as apparently
everywhere else, of great benefit to the local inhabitants, especially the townsfolk
actually living on the spot, though the tribes frequently send in persons for
treatment.