THE OTIRA TUNNEL
GOVERNMENT CONSTRUCTION ADVOCATED. There was some comment at last night’s meeting of the Wellington Provincial Industrial Association bearing upon the construction of the Otira tunnel. Mr C. Palliser said ho thought the .tunnel was one of the works which should be continued by the Government and not let by contract. Mr D. Robertson: My opinion is that it is a downright waste of money and will be so for the next fifty years. Mr L. R. Partridge (chairman): But they will complete it. Mr Robertson: It’s a dead loss then. Mr Partridge: Oh, you can’t do the same as with the dock —fill it up. Mr Robertson: That was another mistake. Mr Partridge: That was the result of public pressure. Mr Palliser stated that ho had had experience of one or two •contracts, and he knew that it was not possible to form a correct estimate of the value of such a work as the driving of the Otira tunnel. It was all of one grade, and the upper end had always got to be pumped out. One did not know beforehand what quantity of water was going to be met with. No one could tell what was going to happen. The undertaking of such a work was risky, and if there was a big risk the Government ought to take it. Mr D. Robertson said if they were to assist in bringing pressure on the Government to have the work completed he thought they should say that the Government ought to do it itself instead of by contract. The chairman indicated that if the matter came before the public again and the association “took a hand,” it would lay the point stressed before the Government.
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New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8354, 14 February 1913, Page 10
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289THE OTIRA TUNNEL New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8354, 14 February 1913, Page 10
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