"MARVELLOUS JOB"

Evening Post, Volume CXL, Issue 64, 13 September 1945, Page 9

"MARVELLOUS JOB"

WATERFRONT CONTROL

CONTINUANCE ADVOCATED

Declaring that the waterfront control system had done a marvellous job during the war, the Minister of Marine (Mr. O'Brien) said in the House of Representatives yesterday that he thought it ought to continue, though with some modification. He favoured the "all-in" contract system, which resulted in faster and better work. He believed that with everybody in the contracts they would get rid of trouble on the waterfront.

The Minister quoted figures to show how successful the Commission's operations had been. The Commission, which operated in only 14 of the larger ports, had the task of expediting the unloading of cargo and did its work by cooperative contract. Previously the average time an overseas vessel spent in New Zealand was 35.7 days, but at once the Commission began to cut thatperiod down, and after five years had reduced the time to 17.5 days, a saving of 18 days a ship. One ship had a saving oi; 20 days, and the average would have been lower than 18 but for the fact that in later years repairs had to be made and larger cargoes were brought for unloading. Of the saving he had mentioned speedier work by the men was responsible for five days, the working of night shifts and Sundays for seven days, and the deduction in ports for six days. I CREDIT TO MEN. I Twelve of the days saved were due tq the waterside workers working all night and on holidays and by faster work. A lot of the credit had to be handed to the men. He also wished to emphasise that if the long hours had S not been worked the Dominion's cool stores could not have been cleared. The Minister said that operating costs- for a ship of 10,000 tons would be about £500 a day. If such a ship were saved 18 days in New Zealand the saving was between £8000 and £9000. In 1944-45 106 ships were sent away, £954,000 was saved in operating costs. The cost of handling those cargoes was £51&,000, so there had been a saving to someone in costs alone of £436,000.

When referring to the suitability of the men appointed to the Commission, Mr. O'Brien mentioned .that it had taken a lot of persuasion to get Mr. James Roberts to take the position. For a long time he had refused, and now he was asking to be released. That gave a denial to the suggestion that all Mr. Roberts wanted was the money. He had done a marvellously good job.