Costly W & H Experiment
p. 98 · Read in the full issue
On Manus
IT was reported in Australian news papers in April that service build ing teams will take over from the Department ' of Works and Housing on Manus. This will not surprise P-NG residents who have thrown no bouquets towards W & H since they began operations in the Territory after the war.
W & H costs in Manus have been about twice that anticipated and only a fraction of the work scheduled to be done has been completed. One reason given for the huge unanti cipated cost is that W & H men had to build their own accommodation before they could do anything for anybody else.
A survey has shown that W & H men on service building projects have cost about £6O per week for pay, fares and allowances.
Only about 10 per cent, of the work expected to be completed for the RAAF by June, 1951 has been completed, and as a result the air' force has had temporarily to abandon the idea of making a large permanent: base on Manus.
Treasury officials are reported to be “gravely concerned” over the economic aspect of Manus. Resi-| dents of Papua-New Guinea who have for years been complaining at the cost and inefficiency of W & H operations probably find a certain amount of sardonic amusement in the Australian Government’s new discovery.