ESTIMATES AND ACTUAL COST.

Taranaki Daily News, 4 February 1922, Page 3

ESTIMATES AND ACTUAL COST.

A WIDE DISPARITY.

SOME CONVINCING. EXAMPLES.

(From Our Own Correspondent.) Wellington, Feb. 2.

The inaccuracy of the estimates placed before Parliament when important public works were contemplated was the. subject of comment by Dr. A. K. Newman (Wellington East) in the House yesterday, The original estimate for the Mangahao scheme, said the member, had been under £500,000. The actual cost was going to exceed £2,000,000. The departmental engineers had said that the Otira. tunnel would cost £440,000. A contractor took the task at £590,000, and had to abandon it after losing sis own money and some £40,000 of Wellington people’s money. The completed tunnel was going to cost about £2,000,000.

The new Parliamentary buildings supplied Dr. Newman with another illustration. When the old buildings were burned down, he said, a new structure could have been provided for £40,000 or £50,000. But Parliament was moved into the old Government House, a good building at the other end of the town was moved to Porirua, much money was spent on levelling operations, a new Government House was built at a cost of £25,000 and a start was made with a new Parliamentary building. Then £lO,OOO were spent'on an entrance for the new Government House, and later another £lO,OOO were provided for alterations. The new Parliamentary Building was still incomplete and the final cost of the whole business was going to be something like £700,000. “That is the way the money of this country goes,” said Dr. Newman in mournful tones.