Progress at Kokiri

Press, 20 July 1979, Page 8

Progress at Kokiri

The regional abattoir and associated meat export packing house is taking shape at Kokiri, about skm from Stillwater and 18km from Greymouth on the West Coast.

Some concrete progress on the complex was reported last week by the chairman of the Pheonix Meat Company, Ltd, Mr S. M. Wallace, and the commissioning manager for

the project, Mr I. Halligan. The target remains to kill cattle for export next year during the next export killing season. It is actually hoped to start rendering offal at the plant during September this year. The offal will come from the abattoir at Hokitika. The roof is already on the rendering building and the floor is down ready for the installation of equipment, which is expected to take place early next month. The construction of the slaughterhouse, chillers, rendering building, the boning room, cold store and boiler house is being carried (tut by Kidson Construction, of Nelson. The two contracts for this work involve the expenditure of about SI.2M. The Nelson-based firm has close associations with the West Coast through other projects and there is a string Coast element in the labour force. Mr Wallace said that the atmosphere on the-site was very good and morale high. Mr Halligan said that many of the workers hoped to be able to find positions in the plant when their building job was completed. Work on the buildings was progressing rather well, he said. Apart from the rendering building, the framework is up for the boilerhouse which is ready for roofing and cladding;” the basement for the slaughterhouse is well advanced; the framework is also being erected for the chillers; and the foundations are being put in for the cold store. The drainage of the whole complex has been completed and there now remains some roading and tidying up to be done. The Railways are in the process of putting in a loop line and are constructing 10 waggons to carry containers of beef through the tunnels between the West Coast and Canterbury to container ports at Lyttelton and Port Chalmers. An assurance has been received that these waggons will be completed by the early part of next year when export is expected to start. Contracts have also been let to Harris Steam, Ltd, of Auckland, for the rendering plant, which will be installed early next month, and also for slaughterhouse mechanical equipment. The boiler, which will also ■ be installed by Harris, is being built in Christchurch and an assurance has been given that it will be ready by the end of November. About $500,000 is involved in the contracts with Harris. At present contracts are also being finalised for the amenity and administration blocks and stage one electrical involving installation and servicing part of the complex.