LATE NEWS “FAR FROM JUNK”

Greymouth Evening Star, 22 August 1946, Page 7

LATE NEWS “FAR FROM JUNK”

EVIDENCE AT WAR VEHICLES INQUIRY .

(P.A.) WELLINGTON, August 22. At the War Vehicles Inquiry today, Owen Conibear, secretary of the War Assets Board said that on March 4 the customary method of opening tenders by staff members was-aban-doned on his suggestion to the general manager and tenders for the United States vehicles were opened by witness in the presence of the general manager and Mr. Levick. Wishing to place the tenders before the Minister of .Finance as soon as possible, the general manager took them home that night with a pencilled schedule of the tenders. . Such draft schedules were usually destroyed after being typed. However, a search had been made and the schedules had been found on'Tuesdav. The schedules as produced were a correct record of tenders received. George Laing described visiting the vehicle park on various occasions. On the third visit, hearing the, opinion that the vehicles were junk, he inspected the trucks fairly thoroughly and concluded that on the whole they were far from junk. Subsequently, he surveyed the tyres of the vehicles and considered that these alone would have been worth £120,000 to £150,000. He later learned that Gillies was offering G.M.C. trucks for from £375 to £1275 each. For back ends, consisting of eight wheels and tyres on two axles with springs, Gillies was getting £240. Witness considered that the Seaview vehicles would have been valued by taking a cross-section to find an average. The trucks had done 600 miles to 10,000 miles. The internal mechanism, apart from the engines, would be 90 per cent, perfect. At the outside a valuation of that sort would have taken a month for the whole of the 2000 vehicles. An alternative method would have been on the basis of £ 1 a horsepower for the engines, provided nothing was broken and that the engine would turn over. Two men could have made such an appraisal in a week. Mr. Warner had agreed with witness that the G.M.C.’s at £lOO,OOO would have ..been a good buy. . Witness said he had been instrumental in formulating a method of sale for the surplus army vehicles which would haVe safeguarded both the Government and buyers. _ That method would have been practicable at Seaview. SOVIET REQUEST FOR UNO POSTPONEMENT (Rec. 3 p.m.) LONDON, August 21. Mr. Molotov has addressed a Note to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Trygve Lie asking for postponement of the United Nations meeting scheduled for September to December or January. The Exchange Telegraph’s Paris correspondent says it is understood that the French delegation favours the suggestion. The British delegation, however, suggests that the peace conference continue with the second delegates while the first delegates attend the United Nations meeting. The Americans, so far have not commented. RUSSIAN ATOMIC RESEARCH IN GERMANY (Rec. 3.5 p.m.) LONDON, Aug. 21. The Daily Telegraph’s diplomatic correspondent says there are reports that atomic research is being 'conducted in the Russian occupied zone of Germany. DAIRY WORKERS’ STRIKE IN ENGLAND (Rec. 3 p.m.) LONDON, Aug. 21. About-600,000 people in south London and thousands more in parts of Kent and Norfolk will to-morrow be without fresh milk as a result of the strike of the Co-operative Wholesale Society’s dairy workers, who are demanding £6 a week for a 40-hour week.