Tar Salesmanship Needs Vigour

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30452, 28 May 1964, Page 20

Tar Salesmanship Needs Vigour

(New Zealand Press Association)

WELLINGTON, May 27.

Adoption of a more vigorous approach to - selling and maintaining adequate control of the quality of tai- was urged by the Minister of Mines ’(Mr Shand) today.

He said if gas undertakings did this, he was confident that all that they could produce could find a market at competitive prices. Mr Shand's statement came after a meeting in his office yesterday of the committee investigating the problems and disposal of coal-tar. The committee set up because several of the major gasworks and most of the smaller ones were meeting with increasing difficulty in disposal of tar which is a byproduct of the coal-gas industry.

Mr Shand said the industry was setting up a New Zealand road tar association within which they would be able to co-operate. In making full use

of their resources to restore confidence in tar as a suitable and reliable sealer.

“The principal potential users of tar are county councils who collectively do far more first-coat sealing than the Ministry of Works and the municipalities put together.

“Provided that quality and delivery can be assured, they stand to benefit by making effective use of the New Zealand product,” he said.

Mr Shand said that for many roading purposes tar and bitumen were interchangeable. During the last year, the Minister of Works and his officers had insisted on the use of tar wherever the New Zealand product was suitable.