TE WHITI BRIDGE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 14 July 1943, Page 4

TE WHITI BRIDGE

LETTER FROM CONTRACTORS. MASTERTON COUNTY COUNCIL'S ATTITUDE. Messrs W. M. Angus, Ltd., writingon July 7, advised the Master ton County Council that they proposed, if certain matters 9 were not rectified within seven days, to close the contract for -the erection of a new bridge over the Ruamahanga River at Te Whiti. The council, at its meetingyesterday, decided to advise the contractors that they would be held to the contract and would be held liable for any failure on their part to carry out the contract in a proper manner and with all proper expedition. The contractors stated in their letter to the council that, owing to the serious shortage of manpower on their Wellington contracts, to the fact that they had by transferring labour from defence work to a non-essential contract broken the manpower regulations, and. as the bridge job was neither defence nor essential, it was apparent to them that the best policy would be to stop the contract. Further, stated the letter, owing to the attitude taken by the council after their confirmation of agreeing to pay increased wages, they had decided that unless the above matters were fixed in seven days they would close the contract and leave it until the frill changes they asked for were granted by the council. The engineers reported that work was still in progress yesterday.