ACTIVE DEPARTMENT

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 21 August 1926, Page 5

ACTIVE DEPARTMENT

SEVEN YEARS’ PROGRESS.

WHAT HAS BEEN ACHIEVED SOME INTERESTING FACTS. (By Telegraph—Special to The Star.) WELLINGTON, Aug. 20. A review of the operations of the Public W orks Department during the last seven years was given by the Hon. K. S. Williams in me course of the department’s annual statement presented to the House of Representatives to-night. He said: To state in brief the operations of the department, 1 would point out that in the past seven years £7,486,719 has been expended on railway construction, and during that period a length of 317 miles of railway lias been 'brought under traffic, of which 153 miles have been handed over to the Railways Department for working, while 164 miles are being operated bv the Public Works Department for the carriage of goods and passengers. Tlie .cost- of the lengths handed over to the Railways Department was, including Otira tunnel, £5,423,149, a considerable portion of which was expended prior to 1919.

On the various classes of roads, including main highways, a total of £4,673,570 was expended, and during the seven years' considerable dnipiovementis in road construction methods have been introduced. Further extensive work has been done in the direction of additional construction and improved surfacing of roads. In the sphere of hydro-electric development, 66,233 horse-power has l been developed and transmitted to centres of demand, at a, capital cost of approximately £3,900,000, an average cost of £59 per horse-power; 20,000 additional horse-power has just been brought into operation at Lake Coleridge. An area of 28,114 acres has been irrigated, the expenditure during the past seven years amounting ,to £509,961. This sum includes expenditure for supply of water to further areas when construction operations are sufficiently advanced. Another activity involving considerable expenditure from the Public Works Fund is telegraph extension, the expenditure on which during the last seven years has been £4,284,767. Mechanical plant has been _ largely availed of, and has proved satisfactory on works where such can be advantageously used; at the same timei the department has been able to employ more manual labour than in earlier years. The introduction of mechanical giant and labour-saving appliances lias een advantageous, allowing of large operations being entered upon without reducing the number of men required. The housing of the workers still continue® to receive, the same attention as hitherto from the department; the provision of huts in place of tents has proved economical in places where camps for workmen were established. The department’s main' operations consist in providing increased _ transport both by rail and road, aiding the producer and distributor alike. The provision of suitable buildings for the operations of State; departments must- continue to be made as the population inereasels and the .activities of the State expand. The erection of buildings to accommodate many departments has been aimed at in all hire centres, enabling a concentration of offices which have been distributed over wide areas with a corresponding disadvantage to the general public. The provision of adequate water supplies for irrigation purposes ini areas where the rainfall is small and the production affected thereby is a development of recent years. Central Otago has received attention hitherto, but there are other districts in. the Dominion where similar conditions are found, and the Government, when the occasion arises, will extend its operations to meet the demand.