COUNTERMANDED

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 196, 12 April 1932, Page 6

COUNTERMANDED

ARRANGEMENTS TO PROVIDE RELIEF WORK AT TE WHAITI P.W.D. ATTITUDE The hopes of the Rotorua Unemployment Relief Committee that following representations made to the Unemployment Board, steps would be taken to alleviate the~plight of the families of discharged 1 Public Works Department employees in the Te Whaiti district, were shattered yesterday, when it was learned that arrangements made by the Board to provide work for the men had been countermanded by the head office of the Public Works Department in Wellington. At last week's meeting of the relief committee the position of a number of these families was stated to be desperate, and in view of the urgency of the matter, immediate steps were taken to communicate with the Unemployment Board. The chairman of the board promised assistance and instructions had been tentatively issued to place the men on road works in the Te Whaiti district when yesterday, these were countermanded by the head office of the Public Works Department.

No reason was given for this countermanding order, but from inquiries made yesterday, it is understood that some more extensive scheme in the district which may absorb the men is at present under consideration. Investigations made by officers of the Rotorua committee over the weekend, disclosed that while the condition of a number of the families is not so desperate as was a;t first believed, by the end of the present week, if nothing is done to relieve the position, they will be on the verge of starvation. The men have had no work for over three weeks, and although settlers in the surrounding districts have assisted by supplying meat and other - produce, none of the families have any incomings with which to purchase groceries and other necessaries. Altogether 34 men are affected, with a further six who will be discharged from saw mills early this week. Nineteen of the men have registered for relief work, and the remaining 15 are not on thei list. The sjreat majority of the men are married and have families. The men are living in small huts and tents in various parts of the Te Whaiti district. Many of them are in very isolated spots, and are existing merely from hand to mouth. No rent is being charged in respect of the tents and huts, however, and all of the families have free firewood. As a result of this latest development, the position remains unchanged, and unless something more substantial than the present rumours of an extensive works scheme are provided, by the end of the week, the majority of the families will be in a most difficult position.