Sabotage At Lake Pukaki

Northern Advocate, 18 June 1947, Page 7

Sabotage At Lake Pukaki

(P.A.) CHRISTCHURCH, This Day. Sabotage -at the new Lake Pukaki power scheme which will delay construction work by a week at least was reported to the Minister of Works (Mr Semple) by the contractor Mr W. Williamson, when Mr Semple visited the job yesterday. Mr Williamson described how, on Friday night, pipes leading from a IOO.OOJ-gallon reservoir were opened to half flood the big cut which will carry the concrete sluice pipes from the lake. , , The concrete work on the bed or the cut was covered by water to a depth of several inches. Steel reinforcing rods were displaced and other parts of the work were badly silted and will require reexecavation. Three pumps of big capacity ha\e been working since Saturday morning to remove the water and had not finished the job yesterday. . The Minister said that he had given orders for detectives to investigate. “It is evident that it is someone on the job who is the saboteur,’ said Mi C “To flood the work is a downright criminal act, especially at the present time when the job' is vital to the South Island power supply and every hour gained is of imporancc. “Whoever committed the act of sabotage must have known how to go about things because the three out lets could not have been turned on aC “Tlfis td is' > the kind of thing that is being done all over the world toda by persons who are more interested in destruction and disruption than they are in the welfare of their country."