The Press WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1955. Public Works Lagging

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27591, 23 February 1955, Page 12

The Press WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1955. Public Works Lagging

The concern of the Minister of Works (Mr Goosman) because the construction of public works is lagging behind the timetable this year is understandable. Uncom-

pleted, and therefore unproductive, works are expensive works. If, as Mr Goosman suggests, too great a proportion of New Zealand’s resources are being attracted to industrial construction, the effect

could be twofold. First, new factories would demand additional public services (such as power), and, I second, their demands for labour i and materials would reduce the i supply of the same essential services. 1 Mr Goosman has not explained why ithe situation has changed since his Ministry of Works statement to the House of Representatives last August. This included a report by the Commissioner of Works (Mr E. iR. McKillop) noting with satisfaction that the Ministry and its coni tractors were able to do more work with 35.9 per cent, of the construc- ; tion labour force in 1954 than they [had been able to do with 40.5 per cent, in 1947 because of increased use of machinery. The chief difficulty noted by departmental officers in August was not in total manpower but in the shortage of skilled engineering staff. Although the manpower proportion available to the Ministry has since fallen further to 33.8 per cent., shortage of engineers may still be the greater trouble, particularly in using the labour force to the best advantage. Mr Goosman on this occasion has given no information about this key section of departmental employees. Instead, he has concentrated on his plans to bring an ambitious works programme nearer fulfilmc. ' by diverting men from private construction. If this means diverting men to essential public works from factories of doubtful economic benefit encouraged by import control it will be useful. How much room there is for this is, however, doubtful. Much of the private work is in its own way as essential as some items on the works programme. During the war and for some years afterwards private industry was starved of capital expenditure, and only recently has it been able to start overtaking its arrears of normal maintenance and development. It will be no solution of the Dominion’s problems of expansion to concentrate too heavily on public works at the expense of soundly based industry. It is to be hoped that the Government’s plans to turn more men over to government projects will in fact not redress the balance but weigh it down heavily in the department’s favour. News that the Government was recruiting more skilled officers would be more promising; so would greater success in finding overseas workers to meet labour deficiencies in New Zealand. Mr Goosman also seems to turn his back too readily on the possibility of doing more work by contract. No-one would argue that contracts should be let irrespective of cost, but governments and government departments in New Zealand have not shown much inclination to do this in recent history. The tendency has generally been just the opposite —to avoid contract work wherever possible, even where it might be economical The Government may not be able to find enough contractors prepared to tender at reasonable prices, and the action now contemplated seems intended to reduce the competition for contractors’ services. At the same time, money may often be saved if public services can be brought more quickly to usefulness at some slight immediate extra cost. This is more than a question of allocating manpower and resources to the best advantage; if possible productivity should be increased. This will not be done merely by shuffling men from one kind of job to another.