GISBORNE RAILWAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 138, 13 June 1932, Page 5

GISBORNE RAILWAY.

AGITATION REVIVING.

JOB FOR RELIEF WORKERS,

UNDER £1,000,000 TO COMPLETE

(By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent.)

GISBORNE, this day

With over 1200 men registered as unemployed in Gisborne the question of stand-down time and allocation of fxinds for relief under No. 5 scheme has become acute, and Mr. D. VV. Coleman, M.P., proposes to take the question up with the Minister of Empl •γ-ment and the Unemployment Board this week.

Representations were made recently to the Hon. A. Hamilton, Minister of Labour, when he was in Gisborne. lie stated that the Gisborne railway project appealed to him as one line that should be proceeded with when money became available. Othe ' visiting Ministers and private members of Parliament have voiced similar views, and it is hoped that the Unemployment Board may be induced to allocate a substantial sum for the carrying on of formation work, as a relief scheme.

The railway suspension has been a vital issue in this district for the past eighteen months, and in view of the recognised difficulty of finding suitable works elsewhere for the employment of largo bodies of men it is not impossible that the scheme will appeal to the board.

Mr. Coleman commented that a resumption of the railway work would give the Givernnient the opportunity Ft desired, to take a large number of men out of urban areas and establish them for a definite period in camps. If the Government could be induced to go ahead with the line, said Mr. Coleman, it would certainly find that the estimates of costs could be substantially reduced, as compared with two years ago. It should be possible to complete the connection to Gisborne at a cost well inside £1,000,000. The outlay from the Public Works funds need not be more than about £700,000 if the Unemployment Board could be induced to make \ reasonable allocation for the work from its own revenue.