them. These buildings include schools, clinics, churches, welfare centres and a maternity hospital.
82. Schools and welfare organizations allotted accommodation in the estates invariably have to carry out alterations to and decoration of their premises before occupying them. All plans for work of this kind require the approval of the Works Section, which also prepares plans and estimates for and supervises the construction by the maintenance contractor of branch offices for other departments in the estates unless these are provided when the block is originally constructed. During the year, the section supervised and approved 478 jobs of this nature in the estates.
83. The establishment of resite areas, referred to in paragraph 15, may involve the preparation of plane-table surveys. The Works Section is also responsible for the construction of paths and steps and the provision of water supplies in these areas if the Waterworks Office is unable to lay on a mains supply. Expenditure on such items during the year was $110,000.
84. The clearance and resettlement of squatters to make way for permanent development sometimes involves the clearance of patches of intensive cultivation. The Works Section is responsible for preparing accurate topographical surveys for delineation and valuation purposes, and the plans have a further usefulness in preventing double payments of compensation when adjacent areas are subsequently cleared. During the year, the department paid out $1,528,000 in crop compensation and disturbance allowances against details obtained from these plans.
85. In the year under review the section carried out 170 field inspec- tions of machinery in squatter factories under consideration for resettle- ment. The section also advises on floor-loading and electrical requirements of industrial undertakings prior to their resettlement, supervises the installation of their machinery, and advises on applications to install new machinery or change trade.
86. The Resettlement and Public Works Departments began con- sultations to determine whether the latter should take over responsibility for the maintenance of the multi-storey estates and resettlement factories, but had reached no conclusion by the end of the year.
CHAPTER X
FINANCE
87. Settlers in cottage areas pay quarterly permit fees for the sites they occupy. The amount is laid down in the Resettlement Regulations,
28
Page 35Page 36
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.