PUBLIC WORKS

Evening Star, Issue 23369, 12 September 1939, Page 8

PUBLIC WORKS

ANNUAL STATEMENT TO HOUSE NET GOST LAST YEAR £16,321,888 ESTIMATE FOR THIS YEAR £13,161,030 The Public Works Statement was presented in the House this afternoon by the*Hon. 111. Semple. ".It records that the gross expenditure last_ year amounted to £21,091,543, of ‘ which £5.741,099 was expended by other Government departments; the recoveries in reduction of expenditure amounted to £4.169,654, of which £1,262,076 was recovered by other departments; the net expenditure totalled £16,921,888. of which £4,479,023 was expended by other departments. In addition, the department collected £1,703,366 for the supply of electric energy, irrigation receipts, and miscellaneous revenue from other sources. Of the net expenditure. £12,234,412 may be regarded as having been expended from loan moneys (£2,168.812 General. Purposes Account, £390,000 Electric Supply Account, and £2,675,600 Main Highways Account) the balance—i.e., £4,687,476 being expended from revenue and taxation. The estimated net expenditure under the General Purposes Account for the current financial year is £13,161,000. This is the amount shown on the Public Works estimates, which also show an estimated net expenditure of £1,840,000 from the Electric Supply Account and £5,267,200 from the Main Highways Account, a total for all those accounts of £20.268.200.' Of the gross expenditure, roads absorbed 31.73 per cent., railways 17.34 per cent., and the next largest figure 8.07 per cent. For the current financial year 1939-40 a sum of £7.50,000 will be provided from the Consolidated Fund for expenditure on maintenance of Public Works and Services. The expenditure on Main Highways from revenue is estimated to "reach £2.787.000, and from loan moneys £2,480.200. It is estimated that approximately £141,486 revenue from the Electric Supply Account will he available after providing for sinking fund, interest, and operating expenses for expenditure on construction works, the balance of the year’s construction programme under this heading—i.e.. £1.273,600—wi1l bo raised by way of loans. SUMMARY OF VOTES. Appended is a summary of votes under control of the Minister for the vear ended next March; — Vote. Total. £ Departmental 210,000 Railway construction 1,230,000 Public buildings 1,250,000 Lighthouses and harbour works 37,000 Development of tourist ■ resorts 35,000 Roads Lands improvement 330,000 Irrigation 285,000 Electric supply ... 1,840,000 Main highways 5,267,200 Maintenance of public works and services 750,000 Total £12,634,200 MAIN HIGHWAYS. A detailed statement of works undertaken throughout the year under review is contained in the annual report of the Main Highways Board, which discloses that the total receipts from revenue sources for the past financial year amounted to over £2,800,000. compared with £2,600,000 for the preceding year. With the exception of revenue from tyre tax. which was some £9,000 less than in the previous year, the receipts from other taxation levied for highways purposes reached peak figures.

The total expenditure from the Main Highways Account for the last financial year on actual works, as distinct from loan and special charges, amounted to £4,369,000, as against £3,392,000 in the previous year. Construction and improvement works, including _ the elimination of dangerous railway crossings, absorbed £2,878,000, maintenance involved an expenditure of £1,311,000, whilst £IBO,OOO was spent on the renewal of bridges. In addition, interest and loan charges amounted to £439,000 and general rate subsidies paid to local authorities totalled £209,000. Last year’s programme of works involved the borrowing of £2,675,600 for main highways activities.

The improvements completed included the formation and widening of lengths totalling 491 miles mid the metalling of numerous sections aggregating in length 188 miles. Kxtensive paving operations during the past year resulted in the completion of 385 miles of initial dustless surfacing, this being the greatest amount of new scaling completed to date in any one year. The length of dustle.se surfaced highways at March 31, 1939, totalled 2,800 miles, which represents approximately 23 per cent, of the main highway’s system. further progress was made in the elimination of dangerous railway crossings, and in the period under review 40 elimination schemes were completed, as against 35 in the preceding year. As at March, 1939, a summary of the Government’s programme for removing these potential dangers is as follows: Works completed at 90 crossings; contracts let or work in hand at 30 crossings; proposals completed or under preparation for 39 crossings. SUCCESSFUL YEAR FORELECTRIC SUPPLY. The statement proceeds : The hydro-electric developments have continued to be one of the Government’s most successful undertakings. 'The conditions attendant on the more prosperous times of the past three years have given the public more confidence and a greater sense of security, which is reflected in continually increasing demands for electric power. Largely as a result of the Government’s housing policy and stimulating of local industries, the increase in the number of consumers is the greatest for any one year since 1928. The number of units generated in the Government stations shows an increase of 17.14 per cent, in the North Island and 18.97 per cent, in the South Island, whilst the operating returns of the various distributing authorities indicate an increased consumption of 13.35 per cent., as compared with 14 per cent, last year. The operation of the various existing power schemes and the financial returns received therefrom continue to be satisfactory. The gross revenue has increased to £1,688,583, and after paying operating expenses, interest, and depreciation it has been possible to make available a sum of £583,131 to the Sinking Fund Account, which is still, however, £558,076 in arrears. In the generating stations the erection of the third unit (20,000 kw) at Waika remoana _ is almost complete, whilst eonstniction'work is in hind and orders have been placed for plant for an additional two units each 21,000 kw for Arnpuni, and for two -unite each 20,000 kw for the new lower development at Waikaremoana. Two additional units each lo.OOOkw for the Waitaki power station are being delivered, and preliminary work in connection with installation is in hand, whilst orders have been placed for a 25,000 kw unit for the new development which will bo built in the Rakaia River at the termination of the Rangitata irrigation canal. Financially the year has been a successful one, and the whole electric supply account has been able to earn 8.41 per cent, on the operating capital after paying net operating expenses. BIG CAPITAL INVESTMENT. The capital invested in the electric supply systems operating throughout the Dominion totals £37,367,664, which includes £16,364,603 of Government ex-

penditure. ’The gross revenue received for the year was £6,296,326. After paying working costs, interest, sinking fund (except in the case of Government expenditure on which sinking fund is payable out of profits), and depreciation charges, the net profit for the year under review was £1,126,936, as compared with £878,591 for 1938, which indicates that the electric supply business as a whole is in a healthy condition. The average revenue received hv the Government for each unit sold was 0.355 d, compared with 0.366 d for last year. ’The average revenue per unit sold by all the retail supply authorities to consumers throughout the Dominion was 0.952 d. This is the first occasion on which the average revenue received has come below the penny, and is, I think, worthy of special mention. In 1925 the figure was as high as 2.12 d, and even in 1935 it was 1.17 d. When we realise that even in Great Britain, where the density of population is very much greater, and whore even yet many sparselypopulated sections have not been supplied, the average return per unit sold was in 1938 over 1.3 d in New Zealand currency, there is no question but that we can justly claim success for our various electrical . undertakings. RAILWAY IMPROVEMENTS. The? not expenditure From the ‘Public Works Fund on railways was £2,670.832. tlie chief item being rolling stock £1.336.913. and the next largest road services £775,532. ROADING. Referring to improved reading for settlement access, the Minister records that within the past three years 2,878 miles of metalling were completed, of which 1,080 miles were completed during the past year, these figures evidencing the sympathetic and practical eonsidoratioY which the Government lias extended to the primary industries of the Dominion in the direction of facilitating settlement and production. In addition to metalling operations, 1,596 miles of road were formed or reconstructed during the past three years, 531 miles having been completed in the last financial year. The not expenditure on settlement and other roads for the year ended March 31, 1939, amounted to £1,290,838, compared with C 1.126.757 for the preceding annual period. An interesting graph reviews the expenditure on reading generally over the last 26 years. It reveals that such expenditure has risen from £500,000 in 1914-15 to £4,100,000 in 1938-39. IMPORTANCE OF IRRIGATION. Irrigation is considered one of the most important developmental works being carried out by the Government. In Otago there are now 13 schemes in operation, commanding an area of 63.000 acres, of which 50.000 acres are regularly irrigated, and last year the revenue'received from the sales of water was £25,980, ns against £24,100 the previous year. No new work was undertaken in Otago, as the schemes investigated did not show sufficient promise to justify proceeding with them._ This condition is due to the necessity for expansive conservation of water in dams or the high cost of pumping water to higher altitudes. In Canterbury there are two schemes in operation, commanding 17,403 acres, of which 2,491 acres were irri-

gated last season, and £334 revenue was obtained. The irrigating season both in Otago and Canterbury was noted for the unprecedented wet weather conditions that obtained until the middle of January, and the exceptionally dry conditions that then sot in and .persisted until the end of June. The effect of this uncommon season was to delay the demand for water until the season was half over, thus leaving many of the irrigators unprepared for the drought that followed. This adversely affected the revenue on the schemes which supplied water on demand—namely, the Omakau scheme in Otago and the Redcliff and Levels schemes in Canterbury. The year’s construction activity was confined to Canterbury on schemes which will derive their water supply from the Rangitata River. It was found in Canterbury that the main rivers provided the most reliable source of water supply on account of possessing large glaciers at their sources, which act as natural storage reservoirs which let the water down during hot north-westerly winds, when it is most required. For this reason schemes of considerable magnitude must he undertaken at one time. The area in the Ashburton County between the Rangitata and Rakaia Rivers proved the most promising one to start on, and this entailed the authorisation of the large supply race known as the Rangitata Diversion Race. This race is 42 miles long, and, besides supplving 1,000 cusecs of water for the irrigation of 234.000 acres of land, it is also capable of generating 30,000 horse-power of electric energy during the winter months, when the water is not required for irrigating the land. PUBLIC BUILDINGS. The net expenditure for last year in the various classes of buildings was:— £ Genera! Government buildings 807.644 Courthouses 34,868 Prison buildings and works 7,656 Police stations 77,745 Post and Telegraph buildings 280,951 Mental hospital buildings ... 128.839 Health and hospital institutions 88,099 £1,425,802 During the past year the gross expenditure of capital funds on the erection of school buildings, additions, and teachers’ residences, and the purchase of sites, amounted to £746,721. This sum includes £19.643 provided by the Consolidated Fund to meet the cost of relatively minor works. TELEGRAPH EXTENSION. The expenditure on telegraph extension by the Post and Telegraph Department during the past financial year in respect of telephone, telegraph. and radio facilities throughout the Dominion amounted to £575,943, as against £312,260 for the year ended March 31, 1938. The number of telephone connections continues to increase at a rapid rate, the net gain in subscribers during the year totalling 9,755, compared with 9,710 for the previous year. The grand total of telephone stations in the Dominion on March 31 was 206,216, which is 14,197 in excess of the previous year’s figures.