CEMENT SHORTAGE

Greymouth Evening Star, 9 August 1946, Page 4

CEMENT SHORTAGE

CONSERVING SUPPLIES FOR ESSENTIAL WORK RESTRICTIONS IMPOSED WELLINGTON, August 8. To conserve cement for housing and essential works, its use for the following purposes has been prohibited: Paths, paving, paving slabs, kerbing and channelling, terraces, fences (except fence posts), garden walls, retaining walls, swimming baths and pools, fish ponds, concrete ornaments and garden furniture. The prohibition is imposed by a building control notice under the emergency regulations. The notice provides that, except with precedent consent of the Building Controller, Mr. R. L. MacPhail, no person shall sell, supply, dispose of or part with possession of or deliver cement or ready mixed concrete unless he is satisfied that it is not intended to be used for any of the prohibited purposes. In a statement this evening Mr. McPhail said the control notice did not provide for a detailed permit system, but merely required that cement should not be used for the purposes specified. Consequently builders requiring cement for approved works could obtain their supplies through normal trade channels without making special application.

Mr. MacPhail said that the continuance of the difficult cement supply position was being severely felt in the primary production and building industries. To make the best use of available supplies, and to prosecute essential works and housing to the utmost, it was necessary to limit the use of cement to approved works only. The shortage of shipping was the main difficulty, and until this was overcome no improvement in cement supplies could be effected. Efforts had been made _to augment supplies by importing cement, particularly from Australia, but the bottleneck in trans-Tasman shipping prevented any relief in this way. COAL SHORTAGE REDUCES PRODUCTION (P.A.) AUCKLAND, August 8. Production at the Portland cement works is still being reduced because of coal shortages. It was stated to-day that there was still sufficient coal to keep the kilns at Wilsons (N.Z.) Portland Cement Ltd., operating at half the normal output, and when fresh supplies arrived it was hoped to increase production slightly. The Kaimiro, which is understood to be bringing a load of coal to Portland, is held up at Westport, and is not likely to arrive for some days. The full capacity of the works is 3200 tons of cement a week. NO CEMENT AVAILABLE IN GREYMOUTH Greymouth cement retailers, interviewed this morning, expressed the opinion that restrictions on the use of cement as set out in yesterday’s building construction control notice, would make little difference to the use of supplies locally. It was pointed out that the authorising of sales by the Building Controller was not a new feature, and retailers did not expect any difficulties to arise from the gazetted notice. “We have no cement, have no idea when we are likely to get any, how much we are likely to get, nor where it will come from,” said one retailer. He added that the control system had operated smoothly before and would no doubt do so again.