EARTHQUAKE DAMAGE

Greymouth Evening Star, 1 August 1929, Page 10

EARTHQUAKE DAMAGE

REPAIRS AT MURCHISON. (Per Press Association.) ”SeLSON, July 31. Splendid progress is being made with immediate repair work at Murchison, under the supervision of Mr. Stringer. The immediate repair work is to make the homes habitable and enable settlers to return, giving them one fireplace, repairing water supply and temporary repairs to serious leaks. A limit of £5O is made on any one home from this fund, but repairs in most cases have far from reached that amount. The township portion is being dealt with first, owing to poor access to the valley until the roads are cleared. There are sixty-nine homes in the township area, of which approximately sixteen have been repaired and made habitable; eight are at present receiving attention, four are considered past temporary repairs, while the balance are considered satisfactory for the time being. Most of these homes require further assistance later from the general relief fund. The present work is purely the making of homes habitable. The Public Works .Department is making good progress with the work on the roads. The stock track to the mid-Maruia is practically completed. GREY RELIEF COMMITTEE. Ninety-eight applications for relief were dealt with at a meeting of the Grey District Relief held last evening. Mr J. O’Brien, M.P., advised by telegram that the request of the committee for £l5OO had been sanctioned by the Central Committee. Sifi Joseph Ward also advised that the £l5OO had been granted by the Central Committee, for the restoration of essential comforts in necessitous cases. He also stated that the Public Works Department had been directed to co-operate, in the way of supervision.

The Chairman of the Grey Committee (Mr J. W. Greenslade) informed a reporter to-day that the full amount of grants already sanctioned to applicants, would be paid out by the committee within the next few days. It had been necessary to delay payment until the conditions imposed by the Central Committee were ascertained, and, in addition, a tremendous amount of work had been entailed in the preparation of 400 or 500 vouchers. '

Mr Greenslade also stated that the sum of £3/6/4 had been collected by the members of the Blackball Pipe Band, which visited Greymouth on Saturday last. The band recognised that the people of Greymouth had done a great deal to assist it, and showed appreciation of that fact by playing around the town on Saturday, in aid of the relief fund. Unfortunately, the committee had been unable to arrange for collectors to accompany the band, otherwise the proceeds would probably have been greater. In this connection, an apology was really due to the members of the band.