PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT

Hokitika Guardian, 23 November 1932, Page 3

PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT

(By the Hon. C. E. M.acmillan, Acting Minister of Public Works).

WELLINGTON, November 22. In the course of the statement the following appears ! >A S honourable members are aware, the control of the- Public, .Works Department was placed in my. ha.nds during the absence of the Right Hon. the (Minister of, ;i public W°rts at the' Ottavya C on f e ffßß,s«>s iPnable • my colleague on l ,hisrt£i)i}}' ( n, to„New Zealand to give to finaiisatiop of the.mauy matters arising out of the Copferenco ’I have continued in an acting capacity. I have, however, during tfii-s short period given a good deal of attention to the work and administration ot the Department in all its branches, and in my efforts I have had the willing assistance of all members of the staff.

Aa predicted in last year’s Public Works Statement, it has been necessary, on account of the present difficult period for the Government to provide as much; work as possible, but I have n<ade. it my object to look very carefully into, the expenditure of,, all loanmoney for the purpose of reducing it to ithd lowest possible limit and of ensuring that it is spent to the <best advantage,

The - rate of public-works expenditure 1 until, the year had been steadily increasing, amLdast year the brake had 'to >he vigorously, applied, even 'though iso pinch work' had to be provided for those thrown out ,af employment by the do; ression in industry ind trade. It was certain that .much the greater proportion of this work could not any longer be met by the expenditure of borrowed money. In consequence of this, as will be seen under the 'handing of ‘‘Expenditure” following _tlie.se opening remarks, the expenditure has dropped from £8,388,629 in the financial year 1930-31 to £4,815,542 last year, and for the current year provision will' be made for £2,634,700, or • a little more than half last year’s expenditure.

These figures apply almost entirely to the expenditure of borrowed money, and do not-give the total sum expended under the control of the Public Works Department; 'but they do indicate that borrowing of money for public works is being reduced as rapidly as is consistent with all existing circumstances.

The activity of the Department itsrtf, 'however, lias not decreased in direct proportion to the reduction in loan expenditure. This is shown by the fact that although the proposed .'.rvnn expenditure for the present financial 'year:. is-.only-little more than -one half of last year’s, and under onethird, 6f the pregibus' year’s, the- gross' cash expenditure for this year will be approximately £4,000,000, as compared with £5,787,771 last ■ year and £8,093,501 for the previous year.

This jiecreaie© fox total expenditure mujt.v of. course, necessitate a decrease in the staff emnloyed by the" Deportment. '• A reduction of nearly 40 per cent, has been' made in its members, which is approaching a' 1 rate proportional t,o the expenditure-reduction. A careful .search into the possibility of further staff reorganisation is well in hand. * ; / ( Quito a. noticeable feature of my present .statement is the great rer duction' in railway expenditure as compared with the Statements of former years. Last year £590,543 was. spent p.nr new construction, and this year will ,-hot exceed £IOO.OOO. The Stratford "Main Trunk Railway is now the only railway work in hand as a charge against the Public Works Fund, and it should b e completed by the 31st March, 1933. The W©llington-Tawa Flat Railway Deviation is still under construction by the Public Works Department.l but the allocation for this work will be reduced"'W les,s than half of what it was. last-year, as .only a sum of £110,900 can be provided under the vote f r improvements and additions to open lines.

Hydro-electric development this year will undergo overhaul and curtailment. Tt is anticipated that about one third of last year’s expenditure will oe inurred. The large portion of this will be required .for the construction *of the dam on the Waitaki River, a work which it would be most unwise not to carry on at a sufficient rate to ensure its safety from floods. One class of work which I have not hesitated so much to undertake, and which will be more particularly referred to later on, is that of irrigation of land. 'Expenditure in this direction is 'sulTT as will result in an ultimate increase in economic farm production, even though it i immediately bear fruit, and I have therefore endeavoured to keep a fair number of "men employed Wa'^.—V:.-

The erection public buildings -in times of financial depression must be ■restricted, and activity in this; ■■■respect will 'be no more than a third of what •it was last year, and will be confined to cases of absolute necessity. The Public Works Department is undertaking the building of thp greatei portion of the small cottages which are being erected on the 10-acre plots of land acquired for unemployed workers. To date 288 cottages have been built «by the Department on 10-acre plots, at a cost of approximately £49,000. The Unemployment Hoard is also .entrusting to the Department the expenditure of a small part of its funds for .relief of unemployment.. Tide money has until recently been expended mostly on road-construction, but a proportion of the funds is now being used for the reclamation of land, chiefly

drainage-works' md on land-clear-ing. Out of a total of 3,421 men employed by the Department with monetary assistance ifrom the Unemployment Board, more than half are now engaged on land development. ' ‘

Considerable widening and improvement of roads was carried AinATh the early . s tages, 'but it was decided that much more beneficial result*; would bo obtained if this money could b e used to metal roads to backblock farms. This proposal was agreed to by the Unemployment Board, and the greater portion of the relief workers now on roads are employed on metalling schemes.- ■ - '■■■ <

Loan expenditure, 1 after climbing from '£2,250,000 * in - 1920 It© over £8,000,000 in 1931 s will chis yea r d ro P below the 1920 figure, .and the expenditure per h. P ad of population has dropped front £5 7s 6d in 1931 to an estimate of £1 9 S 2d for thin year. EXPENDITURE, The total net expenditure under votes and accounts appearing on the public works estimates for the financial ■year e nded 31st M.arch, 1932, was £4.615,542. Of this sum £3,066,839 was expended out of General Purposes Account', and the. valance, £1,748,703, out of special accounts.

WAYS AND MEANS

On the Ist April, 1931, the available ways and means for public works purposes were £1,340,036. Additional funds were received as follows:—

(a) Under Finance Act, 1930, section 2 (public works) £3,000,(XX); (b) Balances transferred from separate accounts now closed £439,170; (c) tie- ( coveries on account of expenditure of pre'vious years. £72,215; (d) Ellesmere ! and Forsyth Reclamation and Akaroa Railway Trust account receipts £1,646 ; Total £4,853,037. V The net expenditure on works and services against the General Purposes Account for the year was—(a) Under appropritaions £2,968,742; (b) Under ( Lake Ellesmhfe Land Drainage Act, 1 1905 £439; (c) Under Lake Ellesmere and Akaroa Railway Tr’st Account £2,754; (d) Charges and expenses of raising Joans £98,098; making a total of £3,070,033. This left a credit balance (in the., account for general purposes at 3lst j March, 1932, of £1,783,034. The estimated expenditure lender the account for the current financial year is £1,786,700, and arrangements are being made with the Minister of Finance to provide the "necessary funds. |

The gross cash expenditure on works and services' under the direct supervision or control of the Public Works Department itself was £5,787,771. This includes expenditure from the Public Works Fund, Consolidated Fund, Main Highways Account, Electric Supply Account, and various other accounts. The Department also collected in cash a total 'of £664,071 as revenue from electric-supply and irrigation undertakings. The total, therefore, of gross cash expenditure Arid revenue lor the year wag‘'£6;451,842. This figure is exclusive of interest and loan charges, credit-in-aid for works of var- 1 oius kinds, and sundry relatively mino-r items of revenue, and gives .some, indication of the volume of work handled by the Department’s staff. , HYDRO-ELECTRIC OPERATIONS, j Hydro-electric development and operation has throughout the year again been one of the most important functions of the Department. Capital ex- j penditure has* been mainly concentrated on the remedial works at Ara- * puni and on continuation of construe- I tion works at WaitaH. The operating works have to some extent felt the' effects of the prevailing depression in that there has not been the same increase in loading during the year as has been usual for some time.. In the North Island systems the loading for the year shows a small percentage increase for the year, but in the South Island the lpad’ng has been slight!}' below that of the previous year.

The general 'iftnancial position of the operating accounts shows a small improvement on that of last year, the percentage over net operating expenses being 7.28 as against 7 per eent. last year.

The general result of the operation of the Department’s electric supply system to date has been, that the schemes have paid all operating expenses and interest, and, in addition, have been able to provide £642,267 towards reserves for depreciation and sinking-fund purposes. RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION. The Inet expenditure was ,£952,388 being £2,053,423 less than tnat of the .previous j'ear, dut to the fact that it was decided to stop construction work on practically all lines. The total length of all lilies under construction over a winch' goods and passenger traffic lias been run during the year wa s '65 miles, and these services have been well maintained.

The net expenditure out of the Public Works Fund for the year ended 31st March, 1932, was £810,434, which excludes a special credit, of £439,190 for depreciation. Expenditure on the construction of rolling-stock totalled £374.085. The sum of £194,522 was expended on Tawa Fiat deviation. The cost of strengthening and renewing bridges was £95,709, and £37,752 was spent on the signalling, telephone, and train-control extensions. Improve-

meats at terminals and miscellaneous small work's cost and administration charges and the costs of raising loans amounted to £15,439." The tot'll net exponditrre under this

vote was £33,226, which includes an amount of £14,218 paid for the rescission, of sale of lease 0 f 415 The Strand, London. POLICE STATIONS. The capital expenditure on police stations for the year amounted to £2,535 out of an allocation of £8,009. MENTAL HOSPITALS. The net capital expenditure ffir tjie year on mqntul hospitals amounted to £45,938, being £88,202 less than that of the previous year. EDUCATION. The expenditure on the erection of school buildings, additions, sites, and teachers’ residences was considerably reduced during the year, the expenditure for the financial year being £259,149, as against .£501,344 for the year ended 31st March, 1931. TOURIST AND HEALTH RESORTS. The expenditure during the year amounted to £87,609, which included an amount of £58,925, being the iopoyment of a loan made to the Tonsariro National Park Co.; Ltd., by the Publii? Trust Office and guaranteed by 1 ' Government. . TELEGRAPH EXTENSION. The expenditure jfor, the financial, year in extending and improving the telephone, telegraph, and wireless facilities throughout the Dominion' amounted to £249,946, against £419,756 for the year ended* the 31st March. 1931. Due to the tapering off in funds, activity in'telegraphy: telephone, and wireless development has necessarily been somewhat restricted.