HOUSING PROBLEM.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 174, 26 July 1938, Page 17

HOUSING PROBLEM.

GARDENERS PERTURBED.

PROVISIONS OF NEW ACT.

"If the Labour Department insists upon the accommodation provisions of the Agricultural Workers Act being enforced on the market garden industry many men will be crippled, and certainly those using a small part of a farm f.ir the production of potatoes and garden produce will drop that activity," stated a Pukekohe market gardener yesterday. It was pointed out that !)."> per cent of the workers in the area of the Frankton Produce Growers' Association were Maoris, men and women. This industry required much more labour than any other form of land production. For instance, a market garden farm of 30 acres needs the services of about. 10 permanent hands and up to 30 casual hands for seasonal rushes. The Act demands accommodation for casual as well as permanent workers. The Pukekohe producers realise that better accommodation must be found for the Maori workers of their district. "Can tiie growers be expected to pay 14/ a day for the large number of hands their industry requires and also put up dwellings for them ?" said one ir.an. "This surely is the responsibility of the Government, and ought to be p-i'.'t. of the national housing scheme. My idea is that this housing could best be piovided on a community system, which would enable proper su|>erv'.a'on to be maintained and. facilitate the task of instruction in housekeeping and hvgirjue. which would be undertaken bv local organisations. Further, it would aid the district nursing service."