129 <- * C L i YIL—PUBLIC WORKS.

Early in 1915 war conditions began to be felt, and it was considered advisable to cancel all unexpended building credits except those for work actually commenced.

In May of that year a ratWr severe earthquake shock occurred in Mongalla province, badly shaking the Mongalla buildings, but the damage was not irreparable. Most of the old buildings taken over from the Belgians at Eejaf, however, suffered severely, and had to be replaced by temporary structures. Earth-tremors have been frequent since this shook, and it is evident that some type of building designed to stand earth shocks will have to be adopted when erecting permanent buildings south of Bor. During 1916 but little new building work was done, the lack of funds and material causing a cessation of new work. The greater part of the Public Works Department supervising staff, howevep, was diverted to Kordofan and Darfur provinces for special service in road clearing, well sinking, erecting temporary buildings, &c., for the Darfur Campaign.

In 1917 and 1918 the impossibility of obtaining certain essential materials made it very difficult to carry out any programme of permanent buildings and necessitated the erection of temporary and semi-permanent buildings. This is not a satisfactoryexpedient, as such buildings are invariably extravagant to maintain and can only have a short life in the rainy districts of the country. The cost of carrying out worKs had by 1917 advanced enormously, and the scarcity of skilled labour became acute owing to the calling up of Greek reservists.

The pumping station at Tayiba and a second similar pumping station at Barakat, erected by the Director of Works in the summer of 1914 for the Soudan Plantation Syndicate, have been kept going by the Public Works Department, though in 1917 considerable difficulty was experienced owing to the long delay in obtaining essential renewals of portions of tjie machinery.

Buildings generally were well maintained during 1914 and 1915, but during 1916, 1917 and 1918 the shortage of paint and other materials—especially timber— normally obtained from Europe, became acute, and much work had to be postponed that should have been carried out. However, except in a few cases, dilapidations have not been severe. Efforts to adopt the use of local timber from the south to replace the imported timber always used hitherto were not very successful. There is good timber to be obtained from the Lado, but transport facilities were wanting and could not be extemporised while war conditions prevailed. The very high flood level of the Blue Nile in 1917 caused some anxiety for the foundations of the larger buildings along the river in Khartoum, but no serious damage appears to have been caused.

In 1919, as in 1917 and 1918, the difficulty of obtaining certain materials made it necessary to erect semi-permanent and temporary buildings constructed from local resources in spite of the heavier annual -apkeep which such buildings are apt to entail.

In the first few years of the Government, when conditions in this country were somewhat rough and the standard of comfort more primitive than it is now, the bulk of the officials were unmarried. But the time has come when housing for married officials is essential. There is little prospect of the present demand for houses being met bj private enterprise, and in consequence the Government has arranged a grant for building. With this a preliminary scheme has been started whereby some twenty-five married quarters will be erected for the use of British officials on the lower rates of pay. it is hoped that this will have a steadying effect on the upward tendency of rents for privately-owned houses, which has caused officials living in such houses to pay rents whicn are out of all pToportion to their salaries. It is expected that this preliminary project may be completed by the end of 1920.

The provision of permanent buildings of a type suitable to ameliorate conditions of living in the southern and less healthy stations, is, however, not progressing as quickly as is desirable, owing to the difficulty of providing sufficient funds. And it is becoming more and more evident that some special means of providing such funds will have eventually to be arranged if any good progress in this direction is to be made. The increased cost of building due to enhanced cost of labour, high transport rates, and inflated prices for materials, is a severe handicap. Sums which in previous days enabled a fair programme to be taken in hand now have to be nearly doubled to provide the same accommodation.

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