CO129-534-3 Report of Retrenchment Commission 4-5-1931 - 19-2-1932 — Page 63

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of the work, however desirable.

PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT:

Paragraphs 5-9. As the Commissioners state, the severance

of the Water Works Office from the Public Works Department and the

creation of a wholly independent Water Works Department is the reverse

of retrenchment. Government is not therefore prepared to consider

the proposal at the present moment. They appreciate the value and

desirability of price-costing water; but here again increased expenditure would be the immediate result, for to do this properly

would entail the engagement of extra staff. The suggestion is

however being carefully examined. To charge the consumer the full

production cost of the water he consumes is a matter of policy, in which connection its effect on the poorer sections of the community

should not be lost sight of.

The Government feels constrained to e xpress its disagreement with the views expressed in the latter part of paragraph 5. The Government is unaware of any occasion on which the views of the

Water Department on any matters of importance have failed to 'filter

through to the Chief Executive'. Where the Government has declined

to accept the views of the Water Department there have been reasons

which at the time appeared adequate, and the position of the head of

the Water Department would certainly have been no stronger had his

department been separated from the Public Works Department.

Paragraph 10. This proposal has received careful

consideration.

It is doubtful if the change in the financial year

would have any appreciable effect on the speeding up of the work, while there are obvious disadvantages in the proposal, the calendar

year being the most convenient for statistical purposes. The

disadvantages of this proposal appear to outweigh the advan ages and

it is therefore not proposed to adopt it.