Ambulance lies idle

Press, 7 April 1979, Page 3

Ambulance lies idle

The Ashburton St John Ambulance Association’s new $42,000 ambulance has been sitting idle since it was delivered nearly five months ago because it does not meet the specifications for a certificate of fitness.

Questions aimed at trying to ascertain the specificationinvolved failed to achieve anything. Spokesmen for the

St John Ambulance Association and the Ministry of Transport testing station declined to answer. The manager of the testing station. who declined to give his name, said he considered the matter to be a private one which he could not discuss.

The ambulance was the subject of a public appeal last year conducted by the Lions Club at Ashburton. It aimed to raise $25,000, which figure was surpassed by $4003. The rest of the money, went to St John funds.

The association’s president (Mr R. J. Martin) said yesterday that the committee and members of the association were deeply concerned about the delay in commissioning the new ambulance, “The gross laden weight exceeds the manufacturer’s specification, and therefore the vehicle cannot obtain a certificate of fitness,” he said. He felt he could not say why the specifications had been exceeded. The association had had no satisfaction from the manufacturer and the association’s solicitor was now being consulted, said Mr Martin. When the ambulance was driven to Ashburton from Auckland, where it was assembled, it carried a temporary certificate of fitness and was driven without some of the excess equipment now fitted. At that stage, association members did not realise that the ambulance did not meet specifications, Mr Martin said. It was only when the ambulance was taken to the Ashburton testing station that it was found to exceed the weight required.