CEMENT SHORTAGE

Dominion, Volume 14, Issue 95, 15 January 1921, Page 10

CEMENT SHORTAGE

ALLOCATION OF SUPPLIES QUESTIONED. Recently the Mayor (Mr. J. P. Luke) made representations io the Minister (Hon. E. P. Lee) and the Board of Trade with regard to the shortage of cement, pointing out that the corporation had been hampered in its work on account of lack of supplies, and urging Vhe work of such a big city as Wellington was of supreme importance —practically as important as twy Government work. Speaking to a Dominion reporter yesterday Mr. Luke said he had received a reply from the Board of Trade to the effect that Ae Wellington corporation had been allotted six tons of cement for the municipal milk supply depot and ton tons for other urgent works. The board also wrote as follows: —"In view of the very small shipment-r-150 tons—which lad to be distributed to applicants whose aggregate requirements are in the vicinity of 16,000 tons, you will realise that' your council has received a fair proportion. Should you require it, the allocation lists arc available for inspection by your council.” Traversing this lettrr, the Mayor pointed out that he was not disputing the fairness of the Board of Trade in allocating this shipment'. The question was whether ■Wellington was getting its proportion of cement from Golden Bay is compared with other centres of the Dominion, and, further, whether a proper proportion of the output from the Auckland cement works was going to the ci”v of Wellington. The Wellington corporation had done its best by importation to get over the shortage—it. had a shipment on Hie sea at the present time —and now ho wanted to know definitely how Wellington stood proportionately with regard to other centres.