HELP FOR DISCHARGED SERVICEMEN

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 118, 14 February 1944, Page 4

HELP FOR DISCHARGED SERVICEMEN

Rehabilitation Scheme SURVEY OF PROGRESS BY MINISTER An outline of the rehabilitation help already provided, for discharged service personnel was given ou Saturday by the Minister of Rehabilitation, Major Skinner. He said that at the end of December, 293 ex-service personnel were under training at Government centres, 90 with private employers, 57 with the Disabled Servicemen’s Re-es-tablishment League, and 18 apprenticeships were in force, a total under all headings of 458. There were 2OS who had completed workshop school training at the Government centres and oue with a private employer, and there were 56 who had failed to complete this training through 111-health, etc. Provision was made for educational facilities with a subsistence allowance where necessary of up to _£t>/i>/- weekly. At the end of December lie were takin a various courses. These courses, •>! in number, covered a wide range, lhe accountancy professional course, with students, claimed the greatest number, with the diploma of agriculture and B.A. courses next on the list with 18 and 1< students respectively. From April 1, 1942, to the end of December last, a period of 20 months, 120 b State rental houses a.nd flats had Men allocated to returned servicemen, widows of servicemen and wives of prisoners or war. The distribution was a_s follovys: Auckland, 400 ; Hamilton, 77 ; Napier, 44; New Plymouth, 40; 'Wellington, 3(1; Nelson, 18; Christchurch, 149; Dunedin, 79; and Invercargill, 28. Of the total of 1206 allocations, 321 were made between October 1 and December 31 last ye ar - „ „ ’ Loans From Corporation.

In December loans arranged for exservicemen through the State Advances Corporation, acting as agent of the Rehabilitation Board, totalled 312 of an aggregate value of £153,630. Total authorizations to the cud of December were 2546 of an aggregate value of £1,321,820. The loans were granted for the purchase of farms, purchase or erection of houses, purchase of tools of trade, purchase of businesses and the purchase of furniture. ■Since the inception of the scheme of rehabilitation allowances on March 1, 1943, to January 1 of this year £201,428 has been disbursed. In addition, special grants in varying sums totalling £094 had been made. Major Skinner reviewed the vocational training work being carried out for the Rehabilitation Board by the Disabled Servicemen’s Re-establishment League. Referring to the Wellington occupational training centre, which includes a limb manufacturing and fitting section, he said that the work there was proceeding satisfactorily. At the end of last year there were 55 employees at the centre, including 18 ex-servicemen from the present war who were receiving occupational training. The building of the -Dunedin centre was nearing completion, a site for the Christchurch centre had been approved, and the necessary steps preparatory to the erection of the building were under way. A suitable site for the Auckland centre was still under consideration. At Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin, however, ex-servicemen were receiving occupational training. Farm Training.

Dealing with farm training, Major Skinner said there were seven ex-service-men at the training farms at Tauranga and Masterton, and 19 applications were under consideration. In addition, 22 were receiving training at agricultural colleges. As he_had announced recently, the way was now celar for an expansion of the farm training scheme by placing ex-servioemen with pre-selected farmers on a subsidised basis.

The Minister added that 179 ex-ser-vicemen had been assisted with loans to purchase freehold farms and six had been allotted sections under the Small Farms Act. Blocks in both islands were being developed tinder the Small Farms Act and suitable for the settlement of ex-ser-vicemen aggregated 94,008 acres. The Housing Department was working on a set of rural house plans for the Land Settlement Board, and it was hoped these would provide a good selection of dwellings for use on the blocks under development. _lt was anticipated, also, that the Housing Department would be able to erect all farm dwellings and buildings required, making full use of prefabrication to keep down costs.