ADMINISTRATION OF RELIEF

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIII, 25 July 1929, Page 5

ADMINISTRATION OF RELIEF

CENTRAL COMMITTEE MR LYONS REPLIES TO MINISTER A proposal that a special commission Consisting of ihree Wellington business men should be set up to apportion relief to the stricken earthquake area?, thus allowing local bodies to go ahead with essential work, was made by Councillor M. E. Lyons, in reply to a statement in Auckland by the Hon. 11. Atmore, Minister of Education, that Councillor Lyons's criticism of the present method was untimely (reports the '.'Lyttelton Times"). ~ ; ,' Mr Atmore stated that "an officer of the Treasury Department was at present on the Coast making an inspection of the, damage. \ - "I would he .the last to do anything that would jeopardise the smooth working of the fund/' said Mr Lyons. ."But T maintain that the central committee is'going'the'wrong way about organising the relief. It would be very much ! better, if instead of a large committee handling the administration in Wellington,'a special commission of, say, three Wellington business men were to act as the central committee. They could ■ handle the matter much more expeditiously than the large and unwieldy body at present in charge, and this would allow the local committee to get essential work done immediately." In support of' his earlier statement that there was likely to be a good deal . of delay, consequent on too,much centralisation,. Councillor Lyons quoted the following circular gent out by the Can'tral committee, the covering letter of which was signed by the Prime Minister , ,(Sir Joseph Ward): — PROPOSALS FOR ASSISTANCE FOR FULL RESTORATION OF DAMAGED PROPERTIES PROCEDURE ADOPTED BY THE' . . CENTRAL COMMITTEE " 1. Public notification to be inserted in the newspapers circulating in the districts that applications for assistance must be lodged with the appropriate relief committees by a date to be fixed. Note —As funds will necessarily be . limited, applications should be dealt with as a" whole in order that the money may be equitably allotted either by way of grants out of the relief funds or by, way of temporary advances. 2. Applications for assistance to be made on form provided. 3. Applications when received by the committees to be reported on by pergons qualified to do so. In this connection the services of either the Public i Works or Lands Departments' officers should be utilised wherever possible. 4. The inspecting' officer's report should indicate the value of the property, the extent of the damage, the cost of reconstruction and any other relevant factors. 5. Applications, together with reports, to be considered by local relief committees, and the committees' recommendation, together with the application and report, to be forwarded to the sec- ' retary, Central Earthquake Committee, care of the Treasury, Wellington. 6. The whole of the Applications to be dealt with simultaneously s,n that the total amount available may be fairly allocated. * 7. In considering the assistance necessary in each case, regard to be given to-^-(a) The circumstances of thp applicant, with particular regard to his or her ability to repay by instalments the cost of repairs. (b) The possibility of the cost of reconstruction being provided by private mortgagees. (c) The possibility of a smaller amount being sufficient to place the applicant in a position to enable him to carry on. 8. Where in the opinion of committees applicants should be in n position to repay the cost of construction, the committee should indicate tlie nature of the security available. 9. Tii the case of business premises, tradesmen should, in general he able to make satisfactory arrangement? privately without calling on relief funds or other Government assistance, and for this reason applications of this nature should receive particular investigation. • Wellington. 10th July, 1929. WMBBMB—WJHVHIMJ