RELIEF WORKS

Northern Advocate, 12 August 1932, Page 4

RELIEF WORKS

PROGRESS CRITICISED,

“NOT WORTH SUPERVISION.”

COUNCILLORS’ STRONG COMMENT

“It is questionable whether .it pays us to find the cost of supervision,” said a member, when unemployed, work done under the Whangarci County Council w r as being discussed to-day. The clerk reported that a total of £4388 had .been expended on relief works, £1428 IBs Id of this since April 1. The amounts expended since the beginning of this year had been: — Smeeton’s Hill £447 18s fid, Three .Mile Bush £319 Ss fid, Kiripaka £9O, Ruatangata £2OS, Ruakaka. £93, Ngimguru £23, ami Taverner’s Access £0 10s. Umlf-r the council, £247 had also been spent on farms. With reference to Smeeton’s Hill, the clerk pointed out that £1(300 had already been spent on this work, and that the cost of supervision and transport to the council ■had been £9O.

The engineer announced that it was likely that the work would be completed by next week.

Cr. J. T. Walker: “It should have been finished a month ago.”

The chairman: “The amount relief work costs is astonishing, when you take into consideration what the same job could have been done for on contract.”

In answer to an inquiry by Cr. .7. IT. Hayward, the engineer said he had estimated that the work at Smeefon’s Hill to provide a road 16 feet wide could be done for less than a third of the present cost. The present conjstruction was 34 feet, so that the estimate and cost were incompatible. It j seemed impossible to speed up the work, and the only way to do so would be to dismiss some of the men—a matter of council policy. Cr. J. A. S. Mac Kay: “The difficulty is that the men have to be employed somewhere. Thirty unemployed of Kamo are working on the Ruatangata Road, and judging from the work done I don ’t think it would pay us to provide constant supervision. One of the unemployed, a good man, is in charge, but he doesn’t get the work done. In my opinion, if a supervisor were paid 10s a day continuously .it would make the job a dear one. The men are engaged in cutting, wheeling the earth away, and walking to and from the job. A very small amount of work is done each da\v” The discussion then lapsed.