BRITISH ZONE

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 66, Issue 303, 4 October 1946, Page 3

BRITISH ZONE

HOUSING PROBLEM TACKLED (Splecial Correspondent N.Z.P.A.) (Rec. 11.30 a.m.) LONDON, Oct. 3. As an answer to recent British Press criticisms of conditions in Hamburg, the Housing and Industries Department of the British Military Administration in Berlin issued a statement claiming that cellar and shelter life in the British sector of Berlin had been eliminated, and that all of 580,000 Germans for whom the British were responsible were now provided with temporary shelter. Out of some 162,000 repairable dwellings in the sector, 36,000 were already reoccupied and repairs to a further 5500 were almost completed. Seven hundred Nissen huts and prefabricated houses had been erected, and repairs to 60 priority hospitals in the sector were now almost finished. These hospitals provide 10,500 beds, while five emergency hospitals providing a further 2000 beds are also being built. The report points out that the British authorities restored a greater proportion of schools in their area than in any other sector. It also claims that 37 factories producing housing materials have been reorganised, and thousand of Germans have been formed into trained labour gangs working under British supervision. .