GISBORNE RAILWAY

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXII, Issue 153, 14 June 1932, Page 7

GISBORNE RAILWAY

AGITATION REVIVING. JOB FOR RELIEF WORKERS. Gisborne, June 13. With over 1200 men registered as unemployed in Gisborne the question of stand-down time and allocation of funds for relief under No. 5 scheme has become acute, and Mr. D. W. Coleman, M.P., proposes to take the question up with the Minister of Employment and the Unemployment Board this week. Representations were made recently to the Hon. A. Hamilton, Minister of Labour, when he was in Gisborne. He stated that the Gisborne railway project appealed to him as one line that should bo proceeded with when money became available. Other visiting Ministers and private members of Parlaiment have voiced similar views, and it is hoped that the Unemployment Board may be induced to allocate a substantial sum for the carrying on of formation work, as a relief scheme. '

The railway suspension has been a vital issue in this district for the past eighteen months, and in view of the recognised difficulty of finding suitable works elsewhere for the employment of large bodies of men it is not impossible that the scheme will appeal to the board.

Mr. Coleman commented that a resumption of the railway work would give the Government the opportunity it desired, to take a large number of men out of urban areas and establish them for a definite period in camps. If the Government could be induced to go ahead with the line, said Mr. Coleman, it would certainly find that the estimates of costs could be substantially reduced, as compared with two years ago. It should be possible to complete the connection to Gisborne at •> cost well inside £1.01)0.000. The outlay from the Public Works funds need not be more than about £700,000 if the Unemployment Board could be induced to make a reasonable allocation for the work from its own revenue.