FEWER INEBRIATES

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 909, 28 February 1930, Page 16

FEWER INEBRIATES

ROTO ROA AND PAKATOA NOW FINANCIAL BURDEN REORGANISATION DISCUSSED So great has been the diminution in the number of inmates at the Salvation Army’s homes for habitual inebriates on Roto Roa and Pakatoa Islands in the Hauraki Gulf, that those institutions are now a financial burden on that body. Recently-compiled statistics have brought this fact to light, and steps for reorganisation of the system of dealing with these cases are now being discussed. A visit was paid to Roto Roa Island yesterday by the Minister of Health, the Hon. A. J. Stallworthy, Mr. R. P. Ward, Under-Secretary for Justice, Ur T. G. Gray, Director-General of Mental Hospitals, and Mr. F. K. Hunt, S.M. The Minister said subsequently that no decision had been arrived at. The position had become unsatisfactory to both the Salvation Army and the Department of Health. Whereas there used to be over 100 inmates at Roto Roa, the home for men. for some time past there had been only 20. On Pakatoa Island, where the accommodation provided for 50 women, there were at present only eight and a short time ago only five.

‘‘Our visit to Roto Roa today was preliminary to a plan for reconstruction,” said Mr. Stallworthy. “It is obviously impossible to carry on as has been done in the past.” Before reaching a decision the Minister will consult Commissioner John Cunningham, of the Salvation Army.