P.O. Repairs To Cost $400,000

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31727, 10 July 1968, Page 1

P.O. Repairs To Cost $400,000

The cost of restoring Post Office property damaged in the West Coast earthquake may be $400,000.

The Regional Engineer (Mr H. W. Wilkinson) said yesterday that nearly $lOO,OOO would be required to restore known damage to lines in the area from Murchison to beyond Inangahua, through to Reefton, Greymouth and Westport.

The cost of replacing the Reefton exchange could be as high as $300,000 depending on whether the old manual exchange was replaced by an automatic service. Engineers were now studying the costs involved in building an automatic exchange in relation to the cost of restoring the manual system. If an automatic exchange were installed an additional carrier system between Reefton and Greymouth would have to be provided. He Mid that the provision of a new post office at Reefton had also to be considered and although he did not know what it would cost it would contain all the latest facilities available. Mr Wiikinson forecast that it would be a long time before all the damage was made good permanently. In some places the full amount of the damage was still unknown because roads were closed. Damage in the Mid-Canter-bury snowstorm last November and the gale in Canter-

bury last Easter had not yet been completely repaired. There was still the new telephone line from Diamond Harbour to Port Levy to be built.