HOT TALK ON ARAPUNI

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1015, 4 July 1930, Page 1

HOT TALK ON ARAPUNI

MR. SEMPLE ON THE WARPATH “SPEND NOT ANOTHER SIXPENCE’’ rress Association, PARLIAMENT HOUSE, Today. ALLEGING that the Arapvmi scheme had been initiated in spite of expert advice, that the present situation was bristling with difficulties and describing the site as a “volcanic rubbish heap,” Mr. Robert Semple (Labour —Wellington East) devoted his time when the Address-in-Reply debate was resumed in the House of Representatives this morning to a thorough discussion of the problem of Arapuni.

He asked why Public Works Department officials, who were responsible for "this blunder’’ which had cost £2,500,000 of the public money, had not been suspended. Why were they still being left In charge of operations? Mr. Semple described the request of Mr. Coates for a public inquiry as "a bit of cheap camouflage.” He produced samples of the various strata o£ rock at Arapimi and declared that the power-house was built on nothing but compressed brown pumice sand. He said If the earth in the vicinity had been properly tested by means of a diamond drill it would be a simple matter for Mr. Coates to produce samples of solid rock strata. The Government of the day should have called for such samples before expending a vast sum of public money. Mr. Semple remarked that he had no fault to find with the site of Arapuni, which was ideal, but it was the foundations of the scheme with which he was concerned. Unless samples of solid rock strata could be produced from the site lie declared with a full sense of responsibility that there was no chance of saving the scheme. He asked whether it was the work of well-informed engineers that the transformer station had been built on top of country that had been honeycombed with penstock tunnels and shaken by gelignite. He attributed the recent cracks to the pulsation of water in honeycombed strata of the nature which he had produced. It was nonsense to suggest an earthquake had been responsible. After alleging that a Public Works Department engineer had been guilty

of a “criminal blunder,” Mr. Semple urged that not another sixpence should be expended on Arapuni until a complete investigation of the scheme had been made by competent experts. Mr. J. W. Broadfoot (United —Waitomo) said the world should be searched for an expert who had had experience of handling similar projects in a country of a difficult nature. For instance a wonderful scheme had been constructed on sand in Sind (India). Mr. J. A. Young (Reform —Hamilton) said he rather suspected that the question of coal-electricity as opposed to hydro-electricity had been at the back of the minds of the Labour members criticising the scheme. He had no fault to find with their point of view in seeking work for miners. He added that while there had been criticisms of Arapuni before the construction of the scheme no one man had predicted what had actually happened. The question of earthquakes had been raised but an assurance by experts had been obtained that Arapuni w*as outside the earthquake area. At the time the scheme had been initiated the late Mr. Massey had mentioned, iu conversation with Mr. Young, that he was uneasy about Arapuni, but that the weight of expert evidence was in favour of the proposal. Mr. Young asserted that it was not yet time to attack the Public Works Department engineer. Instead everyone should assist him to investigate the position and try to discover a remedy. It was gratifying that the Government was taking such a course.