Twizel chief to retire early

Press, 10 December 1982, Page 1

Twizel chief to retire early

PA Dunedin The man in charge of New Zealand's biggest hydro-elec-tric project, Mr Max Smith, who is project engineer on the Upper Waitaki scheme, said yesterday he had decided to take early retirement rather than face disciplinary action for spending Government money on the international rowing complex at Lake Ruataniwha. Mr Smith said he had been accused of spending $134,000 in unauthorised money on the construction by the Ministry of Works and Development of a rowing pavilion and control centre at the lake, near Twizel. which was formed as a result of the power project. He said he was told that he could take early retirement, or be brought back to the Ministry’s head office immediately to face a charge under the State Services Conditions of Employment Act. Mr Smith said no criminality was involved in the accusation, and he had the opportunity to contest it. He said he was fairly confident that he would win if he did so. But he had decided not to, because the penalties if he lost were too great. He would not only have to pay all the costs involved but would lose his retirement allowance. Mr Smith said he chose to retire and would leave on March 1 next year the job he had held since 1970. He is 56 and by next June would have been a Ministry employee for 39 years. In the normal course of events he could have taken retirement in l‘/2 years time after 40 years service (which he was considering doing) or he could have continued for another 34a years, when he will be 60. The Ministry built an international rowing course on the lake, and the pavilion and control centre were built for the South Island Rowing Association, which was to pay the $75,000 expected cost. The building in fact cost $130,000. The association intended raising the money by way of a raffle, but has failed to bring in sufficient funds. Mr Smith said there had now been an arrangement for the association to pay the sum over a period of years rather than all at once.

The Ministry apparently says Mr Smith was not entitled, as project engineer, to spend money on the pavilion without authority. Mr Smith maintains that he had that' authority by right as project engineer, and by tradition. Mr Smith said yesterday he was reluctant to say very much because he did not want to inflame the situation, but he said that traditionally on all projects of this nature the head office had approved the major expenditure for dam construction, machines, and the like while the project engineer on location had been responsible for approving spending on reading, landscaping, and provision of recreational facilities. The construction of the pavilion was, as far as he was concerned, part of that kind of expenditure. “I am still satisfied that I did the right thing,” he said. "It was within my understanding of what I was entitled to spend locally as the project engineer.” More than $550 million has

been spent overall on the Upper Waitaki project. Mr Smith said he first heard of the accusation against him on November 29. He was awarded the Queen’s Service Medal in the last New Year’s Honours List for his services to the Ministry. The Minister of Works and Development, Mr Friedlander, said yesterday he had been advised that Mr Smith had submitted his resignation with effect from early next year, but he did not want to comment on what he termed staffing matters. , In Wellington last evening the Commissioner of Works, Mr J. J. Chesterman, declined to comment in detail on Mr Smith’s early retirement, telling NZPA, “There would be different interpretations of the situation.” “The real issue for any public servant is to determine that he has the proper authority to spend public money. He is required always to ensure that he has authority for what he is doing, and no-one must assume that of right.” He said Mr Smith had done a very good job at Twizel.