LIFE IN BORNEO

Dominion, Volume 26, Issue 171, 15 April 1933, Page 12

LIFE IN BORNEO

Fall in Survey Work PLANNING OF CITIES New Zealander’s Experience After three and a half years of surveying work in Borneo and a further twelve months of town-planning experience in Great Britain, Mr. C. O. Barnett returned to New Zealand by the.Rangitata. At one time many young New Zealand surveyors secured engagements with the survey department in the Federated Malay States, but Mr. Barnett explained that as a result of the depression the opportunities for employment in that service to-day were few and far between. Mr. Barnett said that immediately prior to the depression there were eight New Zealand surveyors in Borneo, but the number was now down to three. His own engagement had been for four years, but it had been reduced to three and a half years, and if things went on the way they were a/ present it seemed that some of the. terms of the remaining employees would be cut down to three years. Rubber was the main industry of Borneo, and as a result of the fall in revenue following the drop in the price of that commodity it had been necessary to curtail the survey service. Headquarters at Jesselton. Most of the survey bosses were confined to Asiatics. The staffs consisted chiefly of Indians and Filipinos, who were the technical people. The labouring work was done by Chinese and Malayans. The European side was confined to supervision, control and specialised work. The headquarters were Jesselton. The survey department in the Federated Malay States was practically controlled by Australians and New Zealanders. At one time there used to be a staff-of 80, of whom 50 were New Zealanders. The staff bad been reduced very considerably, and he considered the opportunities for new men were very, very few, Should the opportunity for further engagements arise, those who had been dismissed would naturally have first claim for re-employment. “The life in the Federated Malay States,” said Mr. Barnett, “is quite a good one for a single man. He can have a good time and save money, but for a married man it is a dog’s life. It might be all right for a married man with a station, but one has to be out there some years to be given the charge of one. It is quite possible for a single man to be stationed out there for four years, have a good time, and come out at the end of his time with £lOOO in his pocket; not that I was able to do that.” . Town-planning Activities, Discussing town-planning activities at Home, where he proceeded when his term in Borneo expired, Mr. Barnett said the general public in England were definitely appreciative of town-plan-ning. In the newer suburbs in the Old Country the effect of town-planning could be seen. This was particularly apparent at Birmingham, where he spent most of his time. There the main feature of the newer parts of the city was the arterial roads and housing scheme. The Birminghaih housing scheme, which had been undertaken since the war, provided for a population of 150,000 inhabitants. The English authorities were just beginning to “nibble” at the question of the slum areas. The new Townplanning Act came into force only at the beginning of the present month. This measure was the main lever for slum clearance. The previous Act''applied only to new urban areas, but the new legislation was much more comprehensive, and in fact covered all phases of town planning. Mr. Barnett mentioned that Kuala Dumpur, the capital of the Federated Malay States, was laid out on townplanning lines, and was one of the finest illustrations of a modern Eastern city. Singapore was also a well laid out city, controlled by an Improvement Trust, which, incidentally, made town-plan-ning pay. .