CHAOS IN HOLLAND

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21225, 23 September 1940, Page 4

CHAOS IN HOLLAND

DEVASTATION BY NAZIS RECONSTRUCTION WORK BEGINS Some 800.000 Netherlander who fled from their country when the German armies invaded, says the Christian Science Monitor, have returned to take up, under German administration, the enormous task of reconstructing dwellings, bridges, canals, and entire cities and towns which were destroyed. At least one bright prospect, however, is seen in the fact that jobs for many thousands of workers are expected to be available, while orders for industries such as the still-intact brick industry will be presented both for the construction of houses and for road building. Rotterdam, devastated by a German bombing raid which took place because the Netherlands answer to the German ultimatum did not reach the proper authorities in time to stop the raid, already has started a replanning and reconstruction programme for the town centre. Work For 17,000 The removal of tne ruins is said to be giving work to 17,000 men, while the rubbish is used to fill up some outmoded canals as well as for road mending and construction. The building trade in Rotterdam, where 350 streets and 26,000 dwellings will rise from the ashes, is expected to be taxed considerably. This also applies to Middleburg where some dwellings will be reconstructed. Towns and villages in the socalled Grebbe Line, where the Netherlands Army fought a valiant battle, also offer many opportunities for work and employment, there being about 1600 dwellings destroyed, which housed some 10,000 persons. In addition to all this is the work of reconstruction of railway bridges and other passages across the big rivers, which were blown up by the Netherlands military authorities as a means of defence. In line with the food problem in the occupied Netherlands, the German Commissioner for the reconstruction of the Netherlands has given permission to resume work at the huge 500,000-acre Zuider-sea reclaiming plan, from which the Netherlands expects to add another 140,000 acres of fertile soil to its area of arable land in the near future. The first of four projected “polders,” covering 50,000 acres, has been under cultivation since 1931 and waving grain and grazing cattle have taken the place of the ocean which lashed this spot up to 1930. The second bit of sea is being fenced in, the enclosing dam being scheduled for completion this year. In this way the draining will take place in 1941 after which the preparation of the soil will be started. Raw Materials Although it is claimed here that in some 160 of the Netherlands leading industrial enterprises direct material damage has in most cases not hindered actual operation, future development and more especially the possibility of continuing work in the long run is dependent upon the supply of raw materials. It is almost impossible to predict to what extent raw materials—up till now supplied by England, the United States, or Netherlands India, will be allowed by Germany to enter the Netherlands. One problem, that of Netherlands’ bargers on the inland waters, has been practically solved by the recent decree prohibiting practically all motor traffic. Inland shipping, which through the ever increasing transportation by lorries, trucks, and trailers had been going through hard times, all of a sudden has regained an enormous part of its lost territory of activity.