CHARGE REFUTED

Evening Star, Issue 23665, 27 August 1940, Page 8

CHARGE REFUTED

TOURIST DEPARTMENT EXCURSIONS " SAVING OF PETROL; NOT WASTE " “ The secretary of the Otago Motor Club (Mr P. F. Havre), in referring to the excursions advertised by this department by railway and service car, is accusing the department of carrying out a policy which the department actually is taking every care to avoid. Contrary to Mr Havre’s statement, this year’s excursions exemplify this endeavour,” said Mr R. G. Sineock, district manager of the Tourist Bureau, this morning. “ During the past few years excursions have been run by the department, visiting numbers of the tourist resorts at specially reduced charges. In order that the cost should be as low as possible, arrangements were made for the members of these parties to meet on the same day at the commencing point of the ■ tour, and to leave by bus in the one conducted party. This enabled reductions both’ in transport and accommodation .charges. This year, however, as it was realised that the use of special buses involved demands on fuel which could be saved for more urgent purposes, arrangements were made for these excursions to be run over practically the same routes, but the passengers to be conveyed on the railway and by the ordinary routine service ears. These cars, of course, run every day, serving the districts through which they travel, and would bo running whether or hot special excursionists were travelling with them. , “In order that no special buses would be required, the excursions were made available to individual members, and on one day. It will, therefore, be quite apparent that instead of the department wasting petrol, as inferred by Mr Harre, it is actually doing its utmost to conserve this fuel. Had Mr Havre made inquiries regarding the matter, I would have been only_ too pleased to have explained the position to him, hut he made his statement apparently quite unaware of the true facte of the case,” said Mr Sincock.