GALATEA

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 261, 28 June 1932, Page 6

GALATEA

MR. McKEEN REITERATES THAT DEV OLOPMENT HAS CEASED. SOME QUESTIONS ASICED. Speaking at his meeting at Berhampore, Wellington, on Wednesday night, Mr. R. McKeen, M.P., replied to the recent statement made by the Minister of Lands (the Hon. E. A. Ransom) regarding the development work at Galatea, says the Evening Post. Mr. McKeen reiterated his previous statement that the operations at Galatea had been suspended and that 100 men employed on the estate had been dismissed. The Minister had replied that Mr. McKeen's information had been quite erroneous; and had also stated that, while it was true that 100 men had been dismissed, it was only because the road work had been completed and the scrub-cutting and fencing had been carried out to the extent necessary for the time being. "Surely this bears out my contention that operations have been suspended and men have been dismissed," said Mr. McKeen, who added that the men had been advised that no further work would proceed for a period of from three to five years. Tt was obvious from the Minister's statement that the development work of the scheme was far from completion. Surely no time was more favourable than the present for pushing ahead with the work ,especially when there were so many unemployed who could be put to useful and productive work. He reminded the Government of its' many pronouncements that it was determined that all relief work should be of a productive nature, and further that the Government wished to give opportunities to those who wished to cai've out homes in rural districts. Galatea provided a golden opportunity to put these professions into practice. The Galatea estate was an area of 22,000 acres, for which, he understood, the Government paid to a Mr. H. Troutbeck £78,000. Would the Minister state how much the Government had spent upon the property over and above the purchase price, whetrer it was true that a main access road into the property had yet to be constructed at an estimated cost of £50,000, how many men were at present engaged on the estate, how many miles of fencing had yet . to be constructed, and since the 100 men were dismissed, whether it was a fact that large quantities of material such as fencing, posts, wire, ete., had been sold. Mr. McKeen said that if the Government found itself unable to cairy out the work of further development at Galatea, why did it not throw the land open for immediate settlement and so enable 120 settlers to be placed on the land, instead of the Government spending thousands of pounds from the unemployment funds m appealing to the loyalty of the farming community to give, sell, or lease 5 or 10 acres to settle the unemployed upon.