REHABILITATION OF SERVICEMEN

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXXIV, Issue 14067, 23 May 1946, Page 2

REHABILITATION OF SERVICEMEN

TRANSPORT CONCERNS IN NEW ZEALAND \ MINISTER’S REPLY . “We as returned men are greatly interested iu the rehabilitation of returned men, but we find the Government departments not as intercrested as we are,” declared Mr J. Q. Aitken, a member of the .executive of tire Western Bay of Plenty Returned Services Association in Thuranga on Monday when a delegation met the' Minister of Rehabilitation (the Hon. C. F. Skinner), Mi- Aitken had referred to a recent sitting' of the No. 1 Transport Licensing Authority. Speaking of the transfer of a licence, Mr Aitken alleged that the man who was transferring the licence had not kept a return of income and; therefore, the State Advances Corporation was not able to asses the value. The price asked was exorbitant. The Minister explained that some 800 odd returned men had been re-, habilitated in transport concerns and seme were doing quite well- H e was not going to argue about any particular cases because he did notknow the details. It was only common justice that the various associations concerned, should he heard at the hearings. The Licensing Authorities wanted to help, hut there were other aspects. The men made application, but, in many cases, H would be doing them an injustice to grant applications for transport sei vices. The trucks were finished, the services would not he economical and the only reason they were be ing sold was because they were noi paying. . Some trucks had to be written 0 and the men helped financially- T> a was the only reason some were M ing their vehicles, many of w e bad been “driven into the groun - The Minister said that he ftOU like to see returned men go! cent preference. The system w operating reasonably well 110 per cent —throughout New Zeaan