CORRESPONDENCE

Greymouth Evening Star, 9 March 1943, Page 4

CORRESPONDENCE

TRANSPORT ANOMALIES

[to the editor.]

Sir, —In common with the rest of N.Z. the West Coast has to submit to drastic economies in road transport, to conserve petrol and rubber. If the inconveniences are shared on an equal basis, there will be no dissatisfaction or friction amongst the general public, but when we find that certain bodies are singled out for discrimination and special treatment, surely there is good ground for complaint. One of the latest examples of this discriminating policy concerns a local organisation which tried to get permission to get Mr. Coburn to run a bus in the early morning from Runanga to Greymouth to connect with the 7.40 a.m. train to Otira. The occasion was an annual picnic for the' children run by the organisation, and was to have been held at Jacksons, as it was last year. All other arrangements had been made, and two days before the picnic date they were informed that permission to run a bus would not be granted. The kiddies had to just swallow their keen disappointment with the patriotic thought that it was for a good cause, the war effort. However, on the same weekend as the children made their compulsory contribution to the war effort, they had the great pleasure of gazing on a bus arriving at Runanga from Denniston, with a contingent of bowlers come to enjoy the hospitality of the bowlers there. We have no grudge against the Denniston bowlers, but we want to see fair play, and what was good for the bowlers surely should be good for the kiddies. After all, the youngsters only wanted a bus to travel five miles each way; the Denniston bus would do a total trip of over 160 miles. Why the different treatment of the same cases? That this is not an isolated case is shown by the following. The Runanga Coop. Society was asked to cease the carting of their own stuff from Greymouth, and the carting of coal from Runanga to Greymouth: yet members of the Transport Board could use their own vehicles to run to Hokitika, unload timber from the railway wagons there, and run it by road to Dunollie, to the State Mines Housing Scheme, which was in course of construction at the time. And they say petrol and tyres need conserving to the extent of denying the children a 10 mile trip to get to their picnic. Yours, etc., THOS. DURKIN. Dunollie, March 9.