EXAMPLE TO COMMUNITY

Chronicle (Levin), 3 May 1947, Page 4

EXAMPLE TO COMMUNITY

MR. FRASER "COMMENDS , KARAPIRO W6MERS The work and cooperation of , erigineers, tradesmen and l.ahourers who ] hdve huilt the Karapiro h^8#6'-decfjri6 , Scheme and who are noW c62str'iictihg a^third dam on the Waikato River at , Maraetai, was cited as an example to - tlie cS&fiiiiiiitJf by thg- PBiM MiMs'fer,- ; after visiting the projects today. He Sritid, in an interView, that if the same eiceflent spirif.wpre exfen^ed to 31: pbases of the .Dominion's Social, efionomic and industrial life, it would pfove the salvatidn of the coimtry and would plaee it in- the vanguard of the ' nations fbr industrial .acfiie'venxent and sfability. "Tfi6 whole conception of the hydroeiectric scheme, its planning and its applicatiOiiy are most.impressive#" Mr.Fr aser stated; ' ' The men also seem happy in their work. The settlementsinust, of necessity, he temporary but in face of that disadvantage evfery effort i§ "being made to provide the fullest ofiportunities for home life and a good sfandard of ho'using seems td have heeh estahlished."* • ■ Accompanied by Mr. A. S; EiChardS/ M.P., and the engineer in charge, MiT. .T; -T. . Gilkinson, the Prime Minisfer spent two hours at Karapiro, befo'lfe s6cing the progress made in excavatirrg the diversion tunnel at Maraetai. As' he walked through the power Station, visited the workshops and inspectfed fhe dimly-lit galleries that lioneycorhbed. the massivc dam, hfe" pduSea to sfie'afe iridividually to scores of men. They were thanked for their contribution to what the Prime Minister termed "a great- job done in a great spirit". When Mr.- Fraser arrived in thb power house the first of tHree gerie'ratihg uuits to be eompleted had been talcen off tlie load for testing. Howevcr, on reaching the eontrol ro'om hfe sdw the engineers ell'ortlessly 'close the sWitches and watched the hieter's rfeeo'rd the gradually inereasing outpiit uutil, within a few minutes, the rhachirife wa§ contributing 30/000 kilowatts to the Nferth Tslarid power systeni. On the western side of'the Waikato R'iver at Maraetai, Mr. Fraser inspected D2,000 dfere'S o'f tu^sfe'fek Ufiti Sb'ffifi country which; with the bridging of the river at k[angakino, has been opened foT develdpment.* It was originally Orowri land but in the days of the Seddon Government, the bldfeic whS transferi'ed to the Maoiis of Wairarapa in. satisfaction of •clanM they had pre-' sfented for the Wairarapa Lakfe. A sfnall part will now be required for hydro-electrical purposes but much of the .remainder has been proposed for native land settlement sclieme'S.