RELIEF ACTION.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 106, 7 May 1938, Page 12

RELIEF ACTION.

HAWKE'S BAY NEEDS.

GOVERNMENT MEASURES.

tXOOD CONTROL UT FUTURE. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) HASTINGS, this day. There is euch a tremendous amount of work to be done on the roads and 'bridges in the flood area, apart from restoring damaged farms, that it will Jse necessary to. bring more men into the district, said the Minister of Labour, the Hon. H. T. Armstrong, at Napier last night, after hie return from Esk Valley. Mr. Armstrong stated that the farmers, whoee land had been completely covered silt and was temporarily useless, would have to be treated as wage earners until* their land became productive once more. One of the first taske to be undertaken in Esk Valley was the digging of main draine to dry out the land, said the Minister. That could not be undertaken by individual farmers, and it seemed it would have to be done by the Public Works Department. At present, however, the Department had so much to do on the roads and bridges that no men were available to carry out drainage activities. He had telegraphed to the Prime Minister recommending him to discuss the position with the Minister of Public Works and to suggest that an engineer and a staff foreman be sent to Hawke's Bay at once. '■This disaster has again emphasised the neceeity for a general policy of river and flood control for the whole of New Zealand," said Air. Armstrong. "The Government at present is gathering expert evidence bearing on the problem and hopes soon to be in a position to decide on the beet course that should be pursued. Some control of the Esk Kivcr now appears to be necessary, but how that can be done it is difficult to say at the moment. To build etopbanks along both sides of the river would be a tremendous undertaking." Mr. Armstrong paid a tribute to the spirit of the people in Esk Valley. One farmer, he said, had already sown down his silt-covered farm in grass.