Effects of pan shortage

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33158, 23 February 1973, Page 10

Effects of pan shortage

Hundreds of new homes could remain vacant for the next three or four months because they did not have toilet pans, the president of the New Zealand Society of Master Plumbers (Mr J. Lusty) said yesterday. It was gratifying that the Government had issued temporary import licences for pans and certain specified lines of sanitary ware, but because of difficulties of obtaining supplies it seemed that the licences would do very little to relieve the shortage, he said. Since the announcement of the issue of licences members of the Master Plumbers’ Merchants’ Society and other plumbers’

merchants had tried to import pans from Australia and the United Kingdom. However, three of the four Australian manufacturers had said they could not supply any. The fourth said he might be able to supply 100 a month for the next hree months, but there would be a delivery delay of about five weeks.

The best delivery that could be obtained from British manufacturers was about 19 weks from the factory, and this would mean delivery beyond the end of the licensing year in June. Mr Lusty said that plumbers had foreseen the shortage last October and sought additional licences,

but these had not been issued, apparently because the manufacturers said they were able to meet the demand. They had been shown to be wrong. “The question must he asked about who pays the extra cost of importing pans,” Mr Lusty continued. “Should this be borne by people who happen to be building or who happen to break a pan tomorrow. We believe they should not be expected to do so, and that some means of temporary subsidy should be granted by the Government. “An airlift from wherever pans can be obtained at short notice could perhaps be undertaken as a military exercise.”