HARBOUR CONTROL

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 208, 28 May 1920, Page 7

HARBOUR CONTROL

A NEW PLYMOUTH COMPLAINT '

ALLEGATIONS REFUTED

Reference was made by the chairman (Mr. J. O. Harkncss) at, last.-nielit'e meetin? o£ the Harbour Board to. a recent article in tho Taranaltl "Herald" complaining that difficulty had been ■ xperienc-. od in setting consignments'of coeds for, New Plymouth transhipped at Wellington. According to the chairman it was obvious that tho article accused the.board of inefficient management. He hail' obtained a report from 'the .traffic. manager' on tho subject, and this established clearly that tho board's management was not at fault, and any difficulties that had arisen wero due to circumßtaMCß over which It had no control.

Causes of' Congestion, In hia report the traffic manager Bald" that on May 15 tho position was an fol-. lows:-Fifteen sheds full, eix Bhods three-! quarters full, five sheds half-full, and ona : shod a quarter full. The immediate causes • of congestion were due: (1) That tho great. majority of the shipping documents came; through tho banks, and these institutions' being closed on May 4 and 5, and general.' holidays 'being observed' on May 6 and 7,: tbu board practloally lost »i weok aa fai"' as the delivery of cargo was concerned; 1 (2) that an abnormal amount of rain tondtdta retard delivery, and the railway, strike also prevented up-country consign-, ments : from being cleared from tho wharves with the usual expedition. Dur" ini* tho week ending May 8 tho cargo' arriving in Wellington was approximately'. 23,080 tons, and the cargo arriving for tho, week lending May 15 was 13,152 tons. Tho, causes of delay generally wero due ihieflyto the practice of importers saving their o\v,n storage accommodation by selling' their goods direct from tho wharf. That practice necessitated excessive sorting Id, the Bhedß and decreased the storage space: on the floors through consignments being: divided fnto a numbor of sub-marks for; convenient distribution. Tho position wassuch that in the near future tho board Would have to consider tho advisability of refusing to receive s'lbftrdars for tho delivory of all cargo other than produce. In addition an acuto shortage of labour had, beqn experienced during tho past Week, due to the unsettled state of busl--nosß and holidays. No fewer than £5 members of tho board's permanent staff were also absent from duty through Influenza.

Position Summarised.) .■> In an addondum tho traffic manager* showed that in January four vessels load-1 ed BJ6 tonß for New Plymouth, 375- of which 'ycro transhipped torn the Har-. boup Board's Bheds. In February sis ecls loaded 606 tons, 85 toiiß of which wore' loaded from tho Eheds. In March thoro'. wbb only one vessel, which loaded 398 tons, In April, ouo which tooJt 397 tons, and in, ,Jfay two, which loaded 1107 tons, while another sailed without cargo. Tho Corinna, which sailed on May 26. practically oleared up the she'd o£ the New Plymouth cargo, for which orders were 'issued, ; In March and tho early portion of April, there was no Borious accumulation of New Plymouth cargo. Vessels departed fully; loaded, but the length of time between' sailings made tho short shipments more, bctloub. During the latter portion of* April and in Jiay, heavy shipments ar-. rived, and tho Eheds becamo badly con-; gested, whilo with labour in short sup-' ply, Borious short shipments resulted.