NEGLECTED ROADS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17177, 3 June 1919, Page 6

NEGLECTED ROADS.

♦ [ A typical illustration of the condi- ' tions created by the stagnation of public works policy is to be found in i the neglected condition of the roads in the Rotorua district, for the main- i tenance of which the Department is I responsible. Although it is the main line of communication from . the railway into the Bay of Plenty, i the Rotorua-Te Tcko road has been I allowed to fall into such disrepair' that its condition is a severe handicap on the progress of settlement. | An immediate result has been to de- , prive a large district of postal facili- , ties. Until recently, the Post Office had contracts for daily ser- ' vices each way between Rotorua and ' Opotiki, via To Teko, and between \ Rotorua and Pacngaroa, the latter connecting with the public works ' trains for Matata and Tauranga, I Under the new contracts, the mails ' have been diverted to the Pacngaroa \ route, with only a' weekly service to i Rotoiti, and a tri-weekiy service via \ Te Teko to Whakatanc. Not only : have the settlers along the Rotorua- j Whakatanc line to accept a much i reduced service, but the cost of the ' contracts has increased by some 50 , per cent., a large proportion of which , is directly attributed to the condition i of the Te Teko road. Thus the in- ' activity of one Government Department is increasing the cost of the ' services for which another Depart- ' rnent has to pay. The thoroughfare ' in question is also the direct access ' to the area of 11,200 acres of Crown j land beyond Lake Rotorua, which is < being opened for selection by dis- ] charged soldiers, and in its present J state must be a serious embarrassment to the development of this , settlement. In the meantime, the Public Works Department has ( money lying idle and road-making < plant rusting, while applicants for ' employment in national works are ( told that the Department is full ' up" and cannot accept any labour. ~