HOUSING OF SERVICEMEN

Chronicle (Levin), 23 July 1947, Page 4

HOUSING OF SERVICEMEN

over 10ft assisted, in levin district Since its iaceplibn ju§t Nqver a year ago the Levin branch df the Rehabilltatiqn Department has, by the granting o£ eithef purqh.stse qr building loans, been instrumental •in the housing . qf 120. ex.-service persqnnel in its district._ This figure, which is said tq disallqw fqr tljose" Who have been allocat.ed State houses, was giyen by the local rehabili.ta.iiqn oSeer, Mr\ Q-H-clay, in the course qf an interview. In addition some 59, persons have been estabiisfeed in bnsinessos 6Q have been granted trade training and e.dueaiiqnal. facilitiejs, : The lo.cal otfice is situa.ted on the top floor of. the Public Trust building-. Its distriet covers the area from and including. Foxton tq Shannon, and as far sout,h as the Waikanae River. The tqtal number qf service persqnnel who have :availed thems.elves of the serviees of the branch has maiiitained a eonstant level of approximately 2000, With the n.atural fluctuaiion of population, . assistance has been given • ex-serviee personnel who have now left the distriet and the work. increas.es with the settlement here of persons from other parts of she Dominion. There were still some, however, who were unawa.re that ihe distriet office -exiatcd, said Mr. Barclay, and to those he would say that any rehabiiitation prqblems they might have, even if they seem'ed trivial or small, would be given every cqnside.ratiQh, The Rehabiiitation Board rqco^nised two basic principles governing the granting of assistance, namely, .to give ex-servicemen the opportunity of returning to civil ' life cn terms at least as favourable as those which would probably have applied as a result of their own efiqrts ha.d they not served in the armed forces, and to reward to ihe fullest extent possible the ser- , vices of those who had served ha the forces, egrrelating m.erit with known or presumed hazard, or with duration and zone of service, Assistance and advice was available tq. anyone in these categories, and he invited them to eall at the office and bring, such problems to. the notice of the department. wAny ex-sqrviceman's. probiem in this or any other djstrict was also. the pr.oblem of the local rehabiiitation officer. Sinoe its inception ihe office had alsq handled over 200 farm applieations of a varied nature. Onee a month the lqcal farming subcommittee, of which Mr. H, J. Lancaster is chairman, handled on an average 1Q appheaaons for farm grading or . re-grading. In the course of fts business it deait with over 60 different types of problems. A total of 424- had been given miseellaneous assiscanee eovering such benefits as the release of tyres, biankets, feltex, motor [Vehioles, motor cycles, tools of \ trade, furniiure' loans, import and J ratiqned goods lieenses, gratuity bonuses and all types of War Assets Realisation Board releases. Tht Rehabiiitation Department offered opportunities to ex-service-men to learn trades in any of their itraining centr.es, It was realised [that many men, through no fault of their own, were labouring or [ performing duties they either did ' no; enjoy or to which they were not j suited, These men could be I placed intq prqauctive trades provided they came to their rehabilij taiion officer and stated tbeir case and preference. "The rehabiiitation officer is the friend and counsellor of the ex-servicemen," concluded Mr. Barclay. "Make an appointment with him and he will do whatever he.can."