A TARDY CONTRACT.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 8075, 3 April 1906, Page 2

A TARDY CONTRACT.

TAPUAE TUNNEL AND GRADING WORK.

Settlors along the road between New Plymouth and Opunake have been put- to great inconvenience by time taken for rc-grading the Tapuae hill. The road has been almost impassable for some time, and settlers complain bitterly. The contractor for the work has already exceeded the time limit by about a couplo of months.

At Monday's meeting of the Tarauaki County Council, the engineer, Mr John Skinner, reported" This work, as I have reported several times before, is not carried on satisfactorily, the work being unnecessarily delayed. At no time have there been sufficient men ou the work to complete within contract time, nor has the contractor himself given the time and attention to the contract that its importance warranted. I have been repeatedly on' the work, and found the contractor absent, and no one appointed to take the responsibility. During the last month, practically nothing has been done on the hill cutting and though the contractor requested me to take over this portion of the contract to enable the metal to be replaced on the road, I found, on testing the grade, that at least five feet of cutting had still to be taken out to briug the hill to its proper level. The filling of the river-hod was carried on without due caution against Hoods, resulting in several hundreds of yards of earth being carried away. This, though a diruct less to the contractor, is also a loss to your Council, as more oarth will have to be borrowed to make up the loss, I would ask your Council to exercise the condition of contract re penalty, and notify the contractor that your engineer is instructed to take all necessary steps to complete the contract, and that all cost of so doing will bo charged to the contractor. Personally, I have done all I could to further the work, and can go no farther unless extended power is given 111 c by the Council."

A letter was read from Mr Harford, the contractor, as follows"Now that I have finished the tunnel contract, I find that I aui £lO2 out of pocket in this respect. This has been owing to the fact that I have met with nothing but boulders, which neither the engineer nor myself nor anyone else would anticipate. To make matters worse, I had 1500 yds of earth swept away. In the face of these facts, 1 respectfully ask your kind consideration m the matter. Trusting your Council will see their way clear to grant me an allowance."

Willi reference to the earth washed away by the recent llood, the Engineer said this was the contractor's own fault. He bait been lold how to guard against it, and, in his absence, the men had commenced the necessary protective works, which had been promptly stopped on the reappearance of the contractor himself.

A Councillor remarked Hint as there wus ud " boss," the men very seldom started work before hall'-pasl" nine or ten o'clock in the morning. The Engineer was empowered to take over the northern portion of the contract from the contractor, and to engitgo teams to cemplotc this portion at once.