Transfer blocked

Press, 1 March 1984, Page 1

Transfer blocked

PA Wellington An interim order restraining the State Services Commission from transferring two senior Ministry of Works 'officers from Dunedin to Wellington was given by the Chief Justice, Sir Ronald Davison, in the High Court at Wellington yesterday. The hearing was heard in chambers. A full hearing of the case will be heard on April 9. In the meantime, the two officers will cease duty in Dunedin tomorrow and report for duty at,the Ministry’s head office in Wellington on March 19 after two weeks leave on pay, com-

muting from Dunedin to Wellington every week at the expense of the State Services Commission, says a statement by the Public Service Association. The positions at present occupied by the two officers will remain vacant, to be filled on an acting basis, until the case has been decided. Commenting on the interim order, the president of the Public Service Association, Mr Colin Hicks, said in the statement that he was pleased. “We feel that the commission acted improperly.” The Government announced yesterday that the

international corporation, Bechtel, would review project management in the Ministry of Works and Development. A former Commissioner of the Environment, Mr lan Baumgart, will review the Ministry’s Water and Soil Division. The Minister of Works and Development, Mr Friedlander, said that Bechtel’s; review would cover “planning and scheduling, financial control, estimates and budgets, resource requirements, design and quality control, procurement, construction management, reporting procedures, and project viability assessment.”