KAITANGATA’S PLIGHT

Greymouth Evening Star, 26 February 1927, Page 5

KAITANGATA’S PLIGHT

SEQUEL TO MINE CLOSING

(Special to "Star.") DUNEDIN, Feb. 25. , Fading away is a description applicable to Kaitangata. It is said that if the mine is not opened soon, 1700 people will be compelled to seek assistance elsewhere, and the capital value of the Borough will drop from £112,000 to £15,000. Nobody appears to have any idea of the intentions of the company.

Complications have arisen concerning the scope of the section of the Act ur der which compulsory liquidation would proceed, and the Union has been advised that the neecssity for an immediate liquidation petition has dis-' appeared. Roughly, £6OOO is still owing to the Kaitangata miners in wages. Of those thrown out of work, 156 are married. The Public Works Department has since found relief work for 70, while a dozen obtained jobs on the West Coast. Others have got work of various kinds elsewhere. The Vigilance Committee is d ringgood work, and thirty-four families, comprising 170 people, are listed as actual distress cases, thus starvation has been prevented. The committee’s funds are being conserved as the win ter prospects are not bright. An application has been made to the Govern ment for a subsidy on all moneys raised for relief. The expenditure of the committee’s funds, all for food, in the first week totalled £l3; second week £26, and third £3O. The shopkeepers are in a gloomy mood, as naturally business is practically at a standstill, but most of them are staiiding loyally by their customers, in whose honesty they have great faith. The Borough Council, like the ratepayers, is in a bad plight. The rate demands, totalling £l2OO, have been out s one time, but only £lOO has been. I rid. With no money at its disposal, itie Council has had to curtail w rl-. In short Kaitangata is in a woeful condition, and something wjll have to happen quickly to straighten the tangle. It is said that an offer is being made to buy the mine, but notnii.g officially is known.