The Putaruru Press PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY ’Phone 28 P.O. Box 44 Office Oxford Place THURSDAY, JULY 3, 1930. ARAPUNI.

Putaruru Press, Volume VIII, Issue 345, 3 July 1930, Page 4

The Putaruru Press PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY ’Phone 28 P.O. Box 44 Office Oxford Place THURSDAY, JULY 3, 1930. ARAPUNI.

ARAPUNI has stopped. The great hydro-electric scheme which was -to be the chief unit for the supply of power for the North Island has been forced into an unknown period of idleness. Two and a half million pounds of capital invested in the works, substations and transmission lines, become, for the time being, unproductive. The position is a most serious one far too serious to be made a plaything of party politics. The issues, therefore, must not be clouded and all sections must unite to sift facts to the bottom for the occasion is undoubtedly bordering a national disaster.

Largely, it is a job for experts, and the first report makes clear two points. These are that the present stoppage is the result of a breaking away or bending of a block of country and that the occurrence might well be unforeseen. ; In this connection it is well to make clear that there is no foundation in fact for the rumours that the contractors for the Arapuni scheme threw in the contract because of the fears that the present situation Would develop. They did not. The contractors, as reported by our special correspondent at the time, stated the power house site could hot be de-watered. They had tried repeatedly and failed. The New. Zealand Public Works Department said it could; they took over the work and in three months time had not only a dry site, but the power 'house foundations well under way.

It is to the future, however, rather than the past, that attention must be now focussed. In this connection one section of the geologists’ report, as summarised by the Minister of Public Works, is not clear. It is that in which these experts say that “ further buttressing of the whole .block would appear to be necessary to prevent a recurrence of movement and leakages.” This ambiguous statement must be made more specific arid the public informed whether or not such 'buttressing will, in the opinion of the geologists, make the works safe from stoppages in the future. This is a very salient point which should be answered in the affirmative before further money is sunk in the scheme. If necessary further geologists—the foremost in the world—should be called in to collaborate with the best engineering advice obtainable, to safeguard the future. There must be no gamble on this question.

On Arapuni the most populous province in New Zealand and the greatest dairying centre, in the world depends for electric power. This being so, no undue risks should be taken. Coupled with a survey of the future of Arapuni should be an estimate of the possibilities of other sources of power from the mighty Waikato river, and the possibilities of a big’ steam generating plant, not at Auckland, but alongside suitable coalfields at Huntly or another centre. The whole problem of the disposal of “ slack ” coal and its utilisation as' a rneans of generating electricity must be carefully considered.

Prohi\ the figures given by the Minister, it is clear that, despite the handicaps already overcome and the fact that a full year for all turbines has not yet, been possible, 6.15 per cent was earned on capital cost. Had there been no interruption it is fair to assume that a much greater return would have been secured when the scheme was fully developed. As against this, however, must be set the fact that the cost of electricity in New Zealand is far and away above that charged in many countries, and whether future profits from the Arapuni scheme would have allowed' of the bridging of this gap is problematical. Too much capital has been invested there already to abandon the scheme without every possible avenue being explored with a view to overcoming present difficulties, but nevertheless the country must not be blind to the economic side and the need for enquiry into the possibilities in the coal fields. There can be no possible objection to this, and it is to be hoped that the Minister-in-charge will. clear up these points at an early date.