STATE HOUSING

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 63, 1 April 1937, Page 4

STATE HOUSING

Mr Lee Corrects Wrong Inference JOINERY FACTORIES A stateinent of tne -Government's policy regarding the leaBing of the State joinery factories is contain'ed in ' a letter written to the Editor by Mr j. A. Lee, Parliamentary IJnder-Secre-tary, in charge of the Government's Housing Scheme. Space and adsquate prominence is aecorded Mr Lee for this /Btatement, first because the HeraidTribune always willingly affords the opportunity for wrong inference; or misstatements to be correoted, and secondly because it is highly desifable that the methods aud principles foliowed by State business enterprises shou'd be knOwa to tlft public. The purpo'se of our comment upon the letting of contracts for the building of State houses in Wellington and Auckland was to draw attention to the fact that the large scale operators in the building trade were deriving t much more benefit from the big undertaking than the smaller builders are. In tendering for the use of the joinery factory, and for the erection qf houses, the one large firm has been successful, and it is not ' unreasonable to assume that its tenders were snbmitted with a fair degree of assnrance that competitors would be outdistanced. The Government, of course, followed the correot procedure in calling tenders and it is satisfactory to have Mr Lee's assurance that no advance arrangeraenfs existed. Mr Lee writes: Sir,— I notice in your leader of the 18th. instant you make the statexnexit that there seems to be no donbt that in the case of the two large joinery factories estahliehed by the Government at Wellington ahd Auckland an arrangemeht had been made for granting the USe of these factories to a certain firm prior to the submission of tenders for the first large contracts for houses in Auckland and Wellington. Your allegatxon is absolutely untrue and your inferences totally unfouuded. If yoti had taken the troubie to mahe investigations you would. have found that the advertisement for the leasing of tho joinery factory at Wellington appeared in the public Press at the same time as tenders WOre advertised for the Lower Hutt and Miramac contractSi MoreoVOf, the offers to lease the faetory and. the tenders for the houses closed at exactly the same hOur on the same date. Similar arrangements wero Miade in connection with the letting Of the joinery factory at Auckland and the ; calling of tenders for the large number j of houses at Orakei* j Moreover, to ensure that the firm j obtaining the Government joinery fac [ tories is not at an advantage cOmpared i with other firms, the department has [ the power to order the lessee of ihe joinery factories to supply to any other successful ten.derer for, housing contracts joinery at the unit rate which iormed the basis of his offer to lease the factory. The factories were let hy public competition, the rental being fixed hy the department. Firms desiring the opportunity of leasing the factories were retpfired td fill in pricea at which they would be prepared to supply certain specified quantities of joinery of all kinds and other classes .of work to housing cbntractors* The firm tendering the idweat prices for such joinery was aWardbd the leases of the factories. Tbe Department of Housing Construction in considering the tenders of any contractor for the construction oi houses examines the priceaf shOwn for joinery and if a eaving can he made by having the joinery cOnstructed in the Government joinery factory, then arrangements . are ma.de for this to be done and the saving is deducted from the Contractor Js tender. ' You Will appreciate, therefore, that your suggestibn that the firm obtaining the lease of the joinery factories must have heen placed at a very considerable advantage, is entirely unjnstified. Trusting that you will se® that this letter of correction secures the publieity merited by the prominence given to your article of the 18th March,— I am, etc., • i JOHN A, LEE, . PaTliamOntary XJnder-SeerefSry, Wellington, March 25, 1937.