HAAST PASS PROJECT

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28927, 22 June 1959, Page 10

HAAST PASS PROJECT

Bigger Grant Refused

(From Our Own Reporter) GREYMOUTH, June 21. No more money than that already allotted would be forthcoming for the Haast Pass project, either for a bridge or for road development, said the Minister of Works (Mr Watt) to a large deputation of Greymouth and Hokitika businessmen when they waited on him in Greymouth last night with a proposal that a separate grant should be made for the construction of a bridge over the Haast river to coincide with the completion of the road which will link Westland with Otago.

“You—you talked a lot of utter rot,” said the Minister heatedly, when pointing his finger at a member of the deputation who had outlined problems facing the Westland province. Mr Watt told the local body representatives that they should not run to the Government for assistance, but should do something for themselves.

During the interview tempers became frayed and the language at times was anything but Parliamentary. It was more like a very noisy election campaign meeting, with all the attendant heckling and interruptions. Some of the speakers, including the Mayor of Greymouth (Mr F. W. Baillie), sat down without concluding their remarks.

The local bodies represented were the Greymouth Chamber of Commerce, the Westland .Progress League, the Greymouth Borough Council, the Westland County Council, the Grey County Council, the Hokitika Borough Council, the Automobile Association, the Greymouth Junior Chamber of Commerce, and the Hokitika Progress League. The South Island Publicity Association apologised for not being represented because of the travel convention being held in Christchurch. It forwarded submissions to be placed before the Minister, together with those framed by the deputation.