REOPENING OF SILTED DRAINS OF GISBORNE FLATS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22664, 15 June 1948, Page 4

REOPENING OF SILTED DRAINS OF GISBORNE FLATS

With a total of 47 men now employed under authority from the Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Council the P.B. Catchment Board is making fair progress with the re-opening of silted drains on the Gisborne flats.

Most of the work has been done to date with manual labour, but it is hoped to have a drag-line scoop on the job within a day or two. In the face of urgent demands for casual labour for many other floodaftermath jobs the board had initial difficulty in manning even the most important of its emergency tasks. A little short of half the labour recruited to date has been secured through the Employment and Labour Department, and the balance through advertising and by personal contacts with men known to be available. Much Silt Too Soft to Work

Repairs to flood-banks damaged in the recent inundation have been undertaken with one mechanical tool of the crawler type so far available. This machine is working down the river from the neighbourhood of the Wae-renga-a-Hika, and later will be transferred to the Manutuke side.

Gangs of shovel-men are engaged in the Makaraka, Matawhero, Manutuke, Waerenga-a-Hika, Lavenham and Ormond areas, and later attention will be given to Waipaoa and Puha drains. In some areas the silt is still too soft to work, but the reopening of drains to let off the top-water should improve the position materially _ within a few days, more especially if the weather takes a turn for the better.