PUBLIC WORKS

Hokitika Guardian, 24 November 1933, Page 2

PUBLIC WORKS

THE ANNUAL STATEMENT.

(Pei- Favour of Government)

WELLING r LON, November 24

The annual Public Works Department statement was delivered yesterday afternoon by the Hon, J. Bitchener, Minister of Public Works, in the course of which it was stated : The recent activities of the Public Works Department have been influenced not only by the factor ol" reduced finance and the consideration of the economic value of works under review from thne to time, but by the continued need for the opening-up of avenues of employment. The last-menticned consideration—the necessity of providing for those who have lost their usual occupations—has required that publicworks construction should be regarded in a somewhat different light from that in which it- was viewed in former years. More so than in the past it has been necessary to weigh expenditure upon •works classed as definitely and immediately or shortly productive (but where the proportion spent in wages would be relatively low) against expenditure on works which are of less economic value (ill that a return for the outlay would be inadequate or Deferred) but which are capable of absorbing a greater number di 1 lhen. It has been lliy en deavoui* to hold a fair balance between the demand for th e one and, the heed for the other j aiid accbrdiiigly all proposals for new works al‘o closely examined from all angles before any decision is made to proceed. I am making it my business, and, where necessary, by personal acquaintance by inspection, to see that the reduced, though still large, sum of loan-money voted for public works i s spent to the best advantage The contracts I have had with local bodies during such visits of inspection have been most helpful in coming to an understanding.of their problems. It is a pleasure to me to be able to record that my efforts to acquaint myself a s quickly and as fully as possible with the Department’s work have been greatly assisted by the loyal help I have received from all members of the staff of the Department. The co-operation of the Minister of Employment and the Unemployment Board has been of considerable help in determining the works that are most suitable as unemployment-relief, works It will be realised by honourable members that ! limitations of finance precluded the institution and completion within any one financial year of any series of major - works, and in the expenditure of loan-money this year the effort has been to apportion the allocation of approximately £3,000,000 over as wide a field as'.possible. This has led to the institution of a number of more or less, modest, schemes afford ing employment in various parts of the country for the greatest possible number. The practice has been to employ relief,, workers as far, a®? possible on .a

co-operative contract basis. Tiff s ha s my full endorsement, t believe it tp promote a more healthy and contented spii'it amongst the men, With assistance from the Unemployment Board it is proposed to extend the system of woillc under cio-operative contract as far as can be done—that is, whilst the neec(,remains for works of this kind. It may be thought by some that there has been an undue reduction in public works expenditure from loanmoneys, but, with regard to this, I would express the belief that the increase of £703,000 over last year was as far as we could go in the light of tlm very real need for keeping expenditure from loan-moneys as low a s possible It is probable, and this would have been in full accord with my own views, that the expenditure could have been kept at the lower figure of the previous year but for the necessity of creating useful work for unemployed men Although public works expenditure is at a necessarily low figure, the lower cost of materials, coupled with financial assistance from the Unemployment Board, has checked to some extent the fall in the volume of work; in other words, the country lias obtained relatively more work for its loan-mone ,y than it has in the past.

It will be recalled that in relation to the public works policy the Government recently decidfed to -further the Unemployment Board’s effort to stimulate the languishing building and allied trades and thereby, among other things, to reinstate artisans and others in their accustomed occupations by proceeding with such deferred works as the Wellington Railway Station and the Dunedin Post Office. The former involves expenditure under the Railways improvement vote, but the acceptance of a tender for tile erection of the Dunedin Post Office absorbs portion of this year’s allocation for the erection of public buildings. The proposed expenditure of public works loan-money for this year may b e grouped under four headings which indicate their general purpose, namely: (1) Improvement of lines of communication' and transport (railways, roads and highways, harbour-works, etc.). £1,049,000.

(2) Development of electric {power £675,000.

63) Erection of public buildings £196,100.

(4) Land development (including settlement of unemployed workers) £954,900.

There is an increase in the proposed expenditure on hydro-electric development for the present year. Tin’s is acounted for chiefly by tile necessity for an early completion of the Waitaki River scheme in South Canterbury. Although the building, of the dam in the Waitaki River i iS well advanced, it is now at one of the most dangerous stages from the noint of view of flood-damage risk, and should therefore ho pushed on to completion as quickly as possible. The number of man employed 'on this work was there-

fore increased recently from 530 to 880. Another division of the Department's work .for which I have thought it wise to ask for an increased appropriation this year is the construction of roads and bridges. Last year the vote had to be curtailed considerably, and the competition of many ro a ds necessary to settlers could not be undertaken ; -but, notwithstanding this, the Public Works Department, assisted by the Unemployment Board, had more men engaged on metalling of settlement roadg than ia any other period of its existence. On main highways it was not practicable to spend more than £159,323 on construction, and thi s was finances mainly by a transfer of £lou,ooo f.r°m the Revenue Fund. This year it is proposed to provide a sum of £260,00 On account of the advanced state of deterioration of a great many badges on main highways the Main Highways Board desires to carry out a more energetic programme of bridge renewals. The safety of the travelling public is more important than the improvement ■of existing highways, and the greater portion of the finance provided for construction of main highways will, therefore, be spent on bridge erection. The expenditure of £90,568 last yeah nn public buildings wag -exceptionally low. The greater part of it was absorbed by school buildings and mental hospitals. More activity is proposed this year in the erection of school and iiieftital hospital buildings. •• EXPENDITURE. The total net expenditure under votes and accounts appearing on the public works estimates for the financial year ended 31st March, 1933, was £1,727,070. Of this sum £1,058,861 was expended out of General Purposes Account, and the -balance, £668,209, out of special accounts.

The estimated expenditure under the account, for the current financial year i K £2,322,915, and arrangements a re being (made with the Minister of Finance to provide the necessary funds. The gross 'cash expenditure on works and services under the direct supervision ■o,r control of the Public Works Department itself wag' £3,195,409. This includes -expenditure from the -Public Works Fund, Consolidated Fund, Main Highways A'cocunt, Electric Supply' Account, and various other accounts. The Department also actually received a total of £842,808' as revenue from electric-supply and from irrigation undertakings. The total, therefore,' of gross cash expenditure and for the year 1932-33 was £4,038,217. This figure ig exclusive of interest and loan charges, subsidies on rates, and sundry relatively minor items of .revenue, and gives some indication of the volume of work handled iby. the Department’s, staff. .

RELIEF-OF-UNMPLOYMENT

WORKS

A s , indicated earlier, there has been, close co-operation between the Public Works Department and th e Unemployment Board i n providing useful and nroductive work for unemployed; and the. combined efforts of the two organisations have resulted in large numbers of men 'being placed under the- control of my Department on metalling of roads to provide improved access to settlers in outlying districts and on land-re-clamation, including irrigation, drainage, iflo-od protection, niYers-improve-me.nt, -stumping • and logging, scrubcutting, etc. Most of the married men employed on. these country works, are either paid wages at the rate of 10s per day for a full working-w.eek or, as iis usually the case, let co-operative contracts based on that rate of pay. The Public Works Department has also, at the request of the Unemployment Board, arranged for the employment of men under the No. 5 Scheme, mostly near the main towns. In these cases the No. 5 .Scheme was adopted to Enable assistance '.to 'be given to as .many men as possible, and also because the prosecution of some of. the works would 'not in ordinary course have been entrusted to or have been a function of the Department.

The number of men employed bv the Public Works Department under financial arrangements made with the Unemployment Board increased gvrCually from 853 in January, 1932, to ' 5,690 at the end of June last, the weekly average for the eighteen months being 3,260. POST AND TELEGRAPH BUILDINGS The Post and Telegraph Department's building programme to be greatly restricted. No new buildings are under construction, nor are any .additions or alterations to existing buildings in progress, the inactivity being enforced by the .abnormal financial conditions that prevail. The amount available for maintenance has been greatly restricted, and has been sufficient to provide for the most urgent cases only. "MENTAL HOSPITALS. The net capital expenditure for the year on mental-hospital buildings amounted to £28,756, being £17,182 less than that of the previous year. It is proposed to expend £BO,OOO for the current year, and plans and specifications are ‘being prepared for further ur|Q*nt ’Works estimated to cost an additional £60.000. Hokitika : A now villa in wood is under construction, and P is proposed to call tenders for cnother villa. The expenditure on the erection c-i school buildings, additions, and residences, and the purchase of sites amounted during the year to £5.2,623, compared with £259,148 for the financial year ended ? I st 'March, 1932. TELEGRAPH EXTENSION. > The expenditure for telegraph extension by the Post and Telegraph Department for the financial year in extending and improv’ng the telephone, telegraph and wireless facilities throughout the Dominion amounted to £99. a« against £249,946 for the year ended March 31, 1932,