in the petroleum industry to Bahraini citizens. Although Chief Advisor Sir Charles Belgrave was reluctant to endorse a welfare state, the introduction to the annual report of the surgeon-general in the last year of Salman's rule (after the King had suffered a severe heart attack) stated that “the most important reform ever of the Health Administration was the King’s offering free health care to citizens and visitors alike early this year.” Economy Sheikh Salman was intensely interested in economic matters. He personally reviewed the annual budget, but went beyond mere auditing in raising concerns with skeptical advisers over the oil revenue quota system. At the time, the state's refineries were contractually allowed to refine foreign oil duty-free, which he saw as a threat to the nation's long-term fortunes. In addition, he noticed an obscure 1914 provision in land law that allowed airports and therefore the basis for an airline, long given a backseat to maritime transit. Gulf Air would be founded during his term. Attitude toward the Arab-Israeli conflict Sheikh Salman founded a committee to collect donations for Palestinians expected to be expelled in the wake of the 1947 passage of the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine, ultimately raising 66,000 rupees in addition to other pledges and in-kind help. The Supreme Muslim Council stopped by Bahrain among other Arab countries on a tour to mobilize Arab support in 1948. A second round of donations spearheaded by Sheikh Abdullah bin Isa Al Khalifa collected 105,000 rupees for conversion into Iraqi dinars, which he sent to Syrian President of Syria Shukri al-Quwatli for distribution to Palestinian refugees there. In less than fifteen days, Sheikh Salman ordered another big drive among Bahraini merchants, collecting 77,000 rupees at a massive conference on 27 March 1948. Finally, in the wake of the displacement of tens of thousands of Palestinians after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Sheikh Salman directly donated 100,000 rupees to the UNRWA, the local United Nations relief organization. Sanitation and public health In early November 1948, the first medical regional medical conference was held with 27 doctors from Britain, the United States, Iran, Iraq, and Kuwait. A report was drafted by a committee of six doctors there on the health situation in the Gulf states for perusal by the local government officials. On December 11, 1948, the first water meters began operating in the country after having been installed at a cost of