LIVELY DISCUSSION

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 77, 17 April 1937, Page 6

LIVELY DISCUSSION

Oue Own Correspoudent)

MANUFACTURE OF CONCRETE POLES

(From

WAIPUKURAU, This Day. "Well, Mr Chambers has been a contractor all his life and he should know whether a contractor requires watching," said Mr A. C. Russell, at the meeting of the Central Hawke's Bay Power Board yesterday. The remarks arose during a discussion on. the question of whether it would be in the Board' s interests to permit a contractor to use the board's plant to manufacture poles for the erection of new lines which the contractor was to ereet. Mr Chambers had pointed out that if a contractor was making the poles it would be necessary to have an inspector to see that they were manufactured strictly to specification. The question afose out of a suggestion by the works committee that the board consider the advisability of permitting the contractor who is to erect new lines in the board's area to take over the board's plant and manufacture the necessary new poles for these lines. Ll explanation Mr Russell said that the contractor had happened to come in by aocident when the works committee were meeting and had suggested that if he were allowed to monufacture the poles he could do it quicker than the present staff. •' The committee felt that while Mr Chambers had done a great deal of work in arranging for the manufacture of these poles, if it were possible for the contractor to ' do the work more quickly and cheaply perhaps he should be allowed to make them, Committee Perturbed. Mr Witherow, speaking as a member of the committee sajd that the works committee had been perturbed at the slow rate of progress made and after a personal inspection he was not satisfied that the work' was being carried out as expeditiously as possible. Mr Fraser .said he understood that the contractor would require 20 poles a • day whereas the board could only make 38 a week. If allowed to use the plant the contractor would undertake to make 20 poles per day. He would also be responsible for keeping the supply of poles up to his own requirements instead of the bcard being responsible. As it was it would be useless to allow the contractor to start on the erection of the new lines in a month' s time, Mr Russell : It's only an experiment. Mr Fraser : Why • shduld we experiment? •' Mr Chambers: Who's experimentmg ? Mr Chambers then went on to say that he had been very ilattered by the confidence the board bad placed in him regarding the manufacture of these poles and they could rest assured that the:ir confidence would not be misplaeed. "I have had 50 years of experience and am sure 1 can speak with as much authority as these two gentlemen," he added. Best Plant in New Zealand. "We have the best plant fcr the purpose, to be found in New Zealand," Mr Chambers said, and he went into a technical explanation as to why the poles made by this plant were superior to other types of concrete poles. He pointed out that if the work was done by contract it would be essential to have a highly paid man to sppervise the work. "You can't make "poles without steel and we have all the steel we can obtain at present, re'ady to make into poles. It you want them made quicker, it is only a matter of putting more men on," he added. ; " Mr Chambers said he had been very hurt indeed to find that it was being noised about the town on the day of the committee meeting, that the board had decided to make the poles by contract whereas he himself had not been told anything about it of&cially. The only thing he knew was that the full board had defmitely agreed to the present method of manufacture and he took the alteration as being a vote of : censuro against himself. Point of Order Mr Witherow: I rise to a point of order. Mr Chambers got his information from the contractor himself and I ask him to withdraw his statement about the matter being gliscussed in town. Mr Chambers: I will not withdraw it. Mr Fraser \told the man in the garage about it and the men on the works knew about it before I did. Mr Fras'er: No sirl I told him we were going to erect the lines, not make the poles by contract. Mr Chambers: I accept that explanations, but I contend " that this matter should not be discussed at this stage v-'ihout giving us a chance. The chairmaL'n again- explainod that tho suggestion came from the contractor and added that he thought there was a good deal in what Mr Chambers said, about having to nave a man to wateh the contractor. He then suggested that the matter be left over for a month and reviewed again. ' Mr Fraser: Certainly, Mr Ghairman. We only wanted the board to consider tho matter. There was no need for all this discussion. Manufacture to Continue The chairman then moved that thb manufacture of concrete poles be carried on as at present *for another month and then be reviewed again. The motion being seconded, the chairman added that he would like to know what Mr Fraser and Mr Witherow thought about it. Mr Fraser replicd that they were quite agreeable, as they had only been trying to iiud ways and means of speeding up production. "I think that Mr Chambers is being asked to do a great deal too much work for the board for nothing," he added, "but I'm being constantly pestered by the people who want supply to know when we are going to give it to theia, and at our present rate it ltioks as though it may be 12 months before we can do it, " The motion to carry on for a month and then xeview the ' situatioii was carried-