THE ARAPUNI WORKS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LI, Issue 6, 6 December 1930, Page 8

THE ARAPUNI WORKS.

In the course of a speech he delivered at Whangarei, this week, the Leader of the Opposition (Rt. Hon. - J. G. Coates) expressed

himself as “curious at the apathy of the public concerning the peculiar attitude of the _ Government to the Arapuni project.” It is now more than two months since Professor Hornell, the Swedish expert commissioned by the Government to investigate the breakdown at Arapuni and report on remedial measures. to again bring it into operation, submitted his findings . to the Government. An optimistic report, it was estimated by the Public Works Department that the measures proposed by Professor Hornell would cost £560,000. Since then, beyond the statement that the Minister of Public Works has decided that before commencing the work advocated by Professor Hornell complete plans and specifications must be first made available, and that scale models of the area below the spillway dam have been built and tested, the public have been in the dark regarding the Government’s intentions though it is now announced that the Minister will make a statement next week. The models were demonstrated to the Minister over a week ago, when it was stated that Professor Hornell had expressed his agreement with the opinion of the Departmental engineers that tests ought to be made with such models before the work of dealing with the erosion below the spillway dam was put actually in hand. The Minister is also reported to have expressed his' satisfaction with the experiments which “would save a good deal of money and enable the work, when once started, to proceed with confidence.” Mr Coates expressed the belief at Whangarei that if the Public Works Department engineers had been instructed to proceed with repairs soon after the stoppage Arapuni would have been in operation long ago. Be that as it may, one can at least endorse his opinion that there has been a “tiresome delay, and it is high time the question was settled.” With the Prime Minister absent from the country the other members of Cabinet would appear to be marking time until his return. Meanwhile, the. interest bill is steadily mounting on the cost of the idle works. It has been proved that, if the measures recommended by Professor Hornell are carried out and prove successful, even with the additional charges of £560,000 Arapuni will be a payable proposition within a few years. Is it not time the Government put more vim into this matter ?