Costly Damage At Project By Vandals

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31092, 22 June 1966, Page 3

Costly Damage At Project By Vandals

(New Zealand Press Association) HAMILTON, June 21. Vandals have put earthmoving equipment worth £75,000 out of commission on the £2.2 million Te Rapa marshalling yards project.

The actual cost of the damage in repairs a, d time lost is difficult to assess but it is described as “well into four figures.” “This is major vandalism and a source of great concern,” said the Railways Department’s project engineer, Mr M. R. H. Henare. “If it gets out of control it could seriously disrupt the project.” Police and additional security patrols now have the area under surveillance. “If anyone is caught doing more damage there is going

to be a mighty big bill for someone to pay,” said Mr A. W. Ensoll, managing director of A. W. Ensoll, Ltd., the earthmoving firn, which has borne the brunt of the vandalism. During the last six months vandals have:— Stuffed sand and dirt into the rear drive of a £25,000 crawler machine. Poured eight gallons of oil, sand and cotton waste into the exhaust ystem of a second machine. Run a third machine for an hour with the cooling system disconnected. Manhandled a locked trolley on to the main trunk line and left it there. Shot holes in the windows of buildings. Removed an oxy-acetylene torch from the locked cab of an excavating machine and used it to cut up valuable steel tools. According to the contractor, there could easily have been a fatal explosion. Visiting Schools

Mr Henare said today he intended to visit all schools in the area to seek the cooperation of headmasters in overcoming the vandalism problem.

Mr Ensoll said the first major vandalism occurred five weeks ago, “All three of our machines involved, had only recently undergone expensive routine overhauls. They have had to be completely stripped and will be out of commission for some time," he said. It was impossible to get new machines and difficult to obtain spare parts. The most serious feature was that the children or the drivers of the machines could be injured or even killed as a result of I interference.