WAR REPARATIONS

Greymouth Evening Star, 4 March 1946, Page 2

WAR REPARATIONS

MANUFACTURING PLANT FOR DOMINION SURVEY OF REQUIREMENTS (P.A.) WELLINGTON, March 4. Complete manufacturing plants from Germany and Japan may come to New Zealand as war reparations, according to a statement by the Minister of Industries and Commerce, Mr. D. Sullivan. Buildings housing the plants may also be shipped if it is practicable to dismantle them. The Minister said that reparations of this class would not be merely individual items of machinery and equipment from broken-down plants. It was hoped that firms planning to set up new industries in New Zealand would advise his department of their needs as early as possible. It might then be possible to obtain complete plants much earlier than would otherwise be the case.

Requests for plant and machinery, the Minister said, would in no way be regarded as a commitment to purchase, although it was desired that applications should be based on genuine proposals and with bona fide intentions to confirm the requests if the equipment is available. At present a survey of requirements was needed so that the claims could be presented to the Reparations Commission. Mr. Sullivan said the main items expected to be available were large and small machine tools of all types, power plants, shipyard and dockyard plant, various types of chemical plants, railway equipment, plant for processing ferrous and non-ferrous metals and various special and general manufacturing plants. Government departments, local authorities, manufacturers and industrial concerns would be circularised as to what was likely to be available and asking them to advise the department in what they were interested.