MANY UPSETS

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIX, Issue 49, 27 February 1945, Page 6

MANY UPSETS

HOUSING PROJECTS

WORK IN HUTT VALLEY

Difficulties encountered under wartime conditions in carrying out housing projects were referred to last evening by the Minister of Works (Mr. Semple). He said that while very often houses appeared to be complete, there . remained considerable finishing work.. Every contractor did his utmost to. get as many houses as possible "covered In," that was, the shell and the 'roof, in order that the time lost through wet weather was reduced to a minimum. That part of the work was spectacular, but it was less than 40 per cent, of the total house.

Referring to the particular" problem in the Hutf Valley, which, he stated, was about 10 per cent, of the total industry, the Minister said that in January of last year much of the Housing Department land was in use for vegetable-growing for the ArmedForces, and when the labour for house-building became available it was unthinkable that the Department could go in and destroy maturing crops. "This," he added, "presented an initial major problem, in that with titles to other lands not cleared much of the servicing "had to be undertaken in piecemeal fashion, and much of it on swamp land that should have been given at least 12 months to dry out after the drains had been installed. In many cases houses were started where it was known that there was a possibility that full services might not be available if the winter, were unkind, and it was unkind enough to give us four months of the worst weather on record. ] POWER SUPPLY. "One of the greatest tasks set by the Department was the demand made on the. Hutt . Valley Power Board to reticulate the new areas. In collaboration with the officers of the board, the full programme was arranged at a time when the board had no more staff than it needed to carry out its normal programme.. In spite of its efforts to obtain extra men, there was" very little1 chance of obtaining ■ technicians elsewhere, as nearly every other board was operating with depleted staffs. The en-gineer-manager to the board was- able at one period to borrow a gang for three weeks from a neighbouring power board, and certainly has done all in his power to expedite supply. In its turn the Department even arranged to dig the post-holes, and assisted wherever it could in the matter of material supplies. "It must be appreciated that when the Department allotted a large number of contracts >it /took into consideration the. Man-power of the contractor, whether small or large, •so that completions would synchronise; but for various reasons some contractors have lost man-power while others have been fortunate in retaining theirs. This has, caused further unbalance. • ■••"'■■v ■. - "Previous to ' the Christmas holidays the electric range position looked particularly bright. In consultation with the factory and electricity controllers, 16,000 ranges were programmed for 1945, and it required only an overall allocation to each dis--trict, but recently owing to the callup of men to maintain the strength of the division in Italy the position has become more difficult. The Department during recent weeks has had to undertake a particular control of each range manufactured. It will take a fortnight or three weeks to complete the Dominion-wide process of commandeering stpves from houses not fully completed for those which are complete. In the Hutt Valley there are eleven houses awaiting stoves only." CONTRACTORS' DESIRE. In spite of anything that might be said to the contrary, every contractor was anxious to complete, his contract at the earliest possible moment, and so obtain payment, and the Department of Housing Construction was more than anxious to have the. houses turned over for occupation. However, the country was still.very much at war, and it would be wishful thinking to hope that with the. tremendous draw-off of man-power arid the difficulty of supply from local production and the importation of. vital materials, from overseas, it would be possible to get by without considerable upsets.

"Actually, for every, man employed on the site there are two employed in ancillary industries, processing such materials as timber, bricks, tiles, cement, wall-linings, baths, basins, fittings, sinks, ranges, plaster, plumbing, and electrical fittings and hardware, and a defection on the part of any one of these suppliers can cause a hold-up on the job," added the Minister. "In peacetime these suppliers go round the builders canvassing for orders, but today the'builder does the canvassing. .Practically no industry can carry 'on : without its upsets, ,and the onus is thrown more and more, on to the Department to obtain materials and control those that are shortest in supply. •'The war has caused ' great unbalance in the industry itself. There has been a huge demand for technicians from the electrical, engineer-' ing, and metal-working trades. These men are even more key men to the war than they are to the building industry, and with large munition orders, still being filled they are only part-time available for the processing of materials required for houses."

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