"ملف 8/16 ملخصات استخباراتية بشأن البحرين" [و‎‎٨‎١] (٣٣٠/١٦١)

2
one which vili strain the financial roaourcea of t»ho '
poor to the utmost limita f
2^2 . Food Supplies
The food supply situation is extremely serious*
Unless tho Middle ^ast dupply Centre can make further
stocks of cereals available within the first tvo or '
three days of decemb r tho Island *3 cereal resources
will be exhausted* Fortunately, the United Kingdom
Commercial Corporation have a small stock of wheat
destined for Eastern daudi arabia. lying with Messrs*
Gray Mackenzie & Company and should the necessity arise
this will have to be made available to feed the popu-
lationos an alternative to starvation.
The Middle dast Supply Centre have announced that
owing to the non-arrival of '. heat stocks the;/ will be
forced to issue whits flour -- very unwelcome now 3 to
the people* Having been weaned from their rice diet
they have now accustomed themselves to cooking ’’heat in
various forms and have no desire to start learning now
culinary methods neceositat d by the issue of flour.
The cost of the flour, which wo must accept as the only
alternative to hunger, is nearly 50 per cent higher than
it was in March this year* The very high price of the
now flour has not yet boon aHode known to the people but
it is easy to forecast their reaction — dismay.
r ,atar
The Political Agent 1 s visit to patar referred to in
paragraph 23S (iii) above was to discuss various outstand*
ing problems and to enable the Political Agent to renew
his acquaintance with the Shaikh Abdullah Jassim al Than!,
C.I.2., and his interesting son Shaikh Hamad bin Abdullah,
shaikh Abdullah was at h'ajhbn some- 70 miles cast of tho
small port of kokrit and the Political "gent lunched with
him before going to make a tour of tho markets of Oohah
with a view to seeing the stock position in the shops. The
almost complete absence of piocegoods and the very high
prices for Uho few inferior carticlcs of sale was most
noticeable. While in Dohah the political i.gent had the
opportunity of meeting the leading merchants and Government
officials at the house of ialim bin Mana the general fac
totum of the Ghaikh. They are an interesting body of men.
244. Meteorological
Maximum temperature
Minimum temperature
Maximum humidity
Minimum humidity
82*8°F, on 20 th November
59* 6 °?. on 29th November
91 % on 27th November
67 % on 22nd November
(Sd.) T. HICKBTBOTHAM
1 st December 19<]:3
Political Agent, Bahrain.