A YEAR’S PROGRESS

Gisborne Times, Volume LXII, Issue 9997, 28 April 1925, Page 3

A YEAR’S PROGRESS

review of harbor develop- ' M.ENT. CHAIRMAN’S ANNUAL STATEMENT. An interesting review of the progress of the development of the new harbor works for the j ear ended Dec. 31, was submitted by the chairman (Mr. G. Smith) at the Harbor Board meeting yesterday:— Harbor development: Tho Beard’s proposal, as amoved at in December, 1923. to take In hand only a modified section of the adopted scheme, did vnot meet with the approval of the Marine Department and in January, 1924, the Hon. G. J. Anderson, Minister for Marine, with the Marine Engineer, Mr Furkert, visited Gisborne at the request of the Board, and the whole position was discussed. The Minister urged the Board to boldly proceed with the whole original scheme includ’ng the outer breakwater, which he considered, the dist-_ rict could yery well afford. ITc subsequently submitted the Crown Law Office opinion to the effect that without further legislative authority, the Board could not proceed with only its modified proposals. In March the Board decided to proceed with the construction of the whole of the Reynolds harbor as submitted to the ratepayers, with certain m nor alterations recommended by the Board’s engineer, Mr. Campbell. Mr. Camphell’s plans containing these alterations were submitted to the Marire Department in Apr’l and were finally approved by the Govcrnor-in-Council in June. The Board resolved to carry out the works of the river diversion, training walls, slipway and the necessary dredging by day labor and tho concrete wharves, tho railway bridge across the Turanganui River and the breakwaters by contract. The engineer was authorised to immediately call tenders for the materials and p’ant required for the day-labor portion of the work. In May, on the recommendation of the engineer, negotiations were opend with the Australian Commonwealth Government for the purchase of a dredging unit corapr.sng a bucket dredge, a tug and, three hopper barges—;the proposal then being that the purchase lie completed only if the anticipated salo of the dredger Maui should be effected. .Finding that suitable barges could not otherwise be obtained without seriously delaying the works and anticipiting an ultimate b’g saving in dredging cost, tho Board decided upon purchase of the Australian plant notwithtauding having been d’sappo’nted regarding disposal of the Maui. The purchase of the Australian dredge, named by the Board the Korea, and the three barges and tug was completed in July, tiro price in Australia being £45,000. The tug was later sold in Australia, as the engineer found, as he had partly ant'eipated, that it was not su table for the work here. To complete the dredging, unit tho Board purchased the tug pel'can in September from Mr. G. F. Zohrab, for £SOOO, at Wellington. In July, tenders were called for the construe- ! t’.on of the railway bridge and in No- 1 vember a contract was let to Mr. F. Goodman at £lO-260. Steps were tak- I en to acquire certain areas of laud required in the carrying out of the works*, these areas consist ng of 1 ae. ] 1 rd. 16 perches of Railway Depart- : incut land on the seaward side of the Woikanao stream for which the Board paid £1.983; an area of approximately 2 perches of that Department’s land adjacent to the Wa’kanae basin on the town side for wli’cli the Board exchanged approximately three perches in the same locality the Department’s land being required for the river diversion ; approximately 1 acre of Kaiti hind the property of several owners, which is .required for the purpose oi railway access. This land is being taken under the “Pubi c Works Act” at a price yet to he fixed, and 1 rd. 14 perches and 31 perches being the ends of Awapuni Road and Read’s Quay, also required for the river diversion—the Borough Council having iigreed to .stop these road ends and hand them over to the Board for the sum of £SOO. Record of development works carried out during the year will he found in the engineer’s first annua! report now coming forward.

New lean, in March the Board Ciii’ed upon the Union Bank of Australia to submit terms under which the loan might ho raised. This Bank j declined to negotiate the loan and j tho Board therefore approached tho ; Bank of New Zealand. The latter : Bank submitted an offer to raise the ! first inst ilment—£2so,GOO —at terms j equivalent to 5 per cent at 94. The-j offer was accepted by the Board and j tho money was made available as at j Ist July. The debentures were issued on Ist August—l2so of them being j of a denominat'on of £IOO each and 250 of £SOO each. They hear interestas from Ist July, 1924, at 5 per cent' payable in London on tho Ist January r.nd Ist July. The currency of the loan is 30 years, maturing Ist July. 1954. Tho cost of rais’ng• this lust insta’moni of the loan amounted to £29,380 -Is 'lid. including discount, British Government Stamp Duty. ex~ change etc. 'Of the sum available, £125 000 was remitted from London to G’sborne raid £53,000 to . Melbourne, the latter to moot payments due in Australia in connection with j the Korun dredging plant. To avo’d cost of exchange the Bank was directed to hold the balance in London for the purpose of meeting payments to he made in England for materials, ■ plant etc., and four half-yearly pay- j meats of interest amounting'to £25000. A.ll moneys in London not immediately requ red have been invested 'prir.c’pally in short dated Br.t sh Government securities producing approximately 33 per cent and part with theBank of New Zealand at 2 per cent daily rate. The loan funds at Gisborne were placed on nxeu uepo-xt with the Bank for varying periods to best advantage, while allow.ng for the sums requ red from mouth to month to be ava'lable. Shipp ng: During the year to /31st December, 445 trading steamers and 45 sailing vessels entered the port (auxiliary power sai’ers are taken , as steamers). Olie tonnage was: Steamers—4o2,S34 tons nett register; sailers—s236 tons nett register-—a total of 408,070 tons nett register—an increase of 10.783 tons compared with the prelvous year. Thirty-four Home steamers with a total tonnage of 191. 910 (included in above figures) entered the port during the year. Trade of the port.—The returns of cargo handled at the port during the year 1924 show slightly under ( the quantity for the previous year. The figures for the last seven years are as follows:—'l9lß—lmports, ,56,054 tons’; exports, 28,251 tons, 'lotal 84,305 tons. 1919—Imports. 60.052 tons; exports, 51,405$ tons—total. 111,460 tens. 1920—‘Imports, 62,978 tons; exports, 49.400 tons total. 112,378 tons. 1921—Imports. 58,571 tons; imports, 56,207 tons. 1922 Imports, 51,864 tons; exports. 50,7 1 2 tons —total, 102.636 tons. 1923—Imports, 58,078 tons; exports. 43,787 ton—total, 101.860 tons. 1924—Imports, 58 583 tons ; exports, 51,7-00. tors- —total 100.333 tens. ■ 'Lightered cargo.— r OF the above tonnages the quantities lightered inward and outward (including..meats) were: 1918, 49,81.4 tonk; 1919, 77,014 tons; 1920, 75,869 tons; 1921. 72,448 tons; 1922, 56' 509 tons; 1923. 56.572 tons ; 1924. 51.421 tons. Statement of Accounts: The treasurer’s statement of accounts for the year 192-4 has been prepared and awa'ts examination by the Government A-ud'it Department before, it can He submitted for adoption by the Board. ■!, iro . General Account: The year 1924 ivas commenced with a credit balance of £1099 0s 9d. The ordinary revenue amounted to £30,752 15s 4d. To t.ns

was added £403 4s, being costs allowed by the Cburt of Appeal against Mr. G. Jl. Lysnar. The total recc'p,ts through general account therefore amounted to £31,24.5 19s 4d. Til© expenditure through this account, consisting of tho usual payments of interest on the £200,000 loan, general maintenance charges, etc., amounted to £27 943 8 s 6d, a decrease of £2179 15s 5d on the amount of tlic ordinary expenditure in the previous year. In addition to the ordinary expenditure during J 024, the sum of £3875 17s 8d was debited to general account, being the cost incurred during 1923 for office extensions, furnishing, etc., to provide accommodation for the engineering staff. The Audit Department directed that this amount must he refunded to the 1024/25 Loan Account and the Beard agreed to repay the amount —part during 1924 and part dur'ng 1925. However, at the end of tho year it was found that the balance in general account was sufficient to allow the transfer to he made in cue sum and still leave a credit balance of £525 13,s lid. Revenue: Tho collections for 1924 under the main headings of variable revenue only, i.e., wharfage on cargo and dues on vessels, show a nett’ increase of £399 10s 10d on the figures of tho previous year. Wharfage on imports increased by £545 7s 2d, while there was a docra.se of £319 5s in outward wharfage. Dues from ves.sels increased by £173 9s Bd. The following sets out the principal collections of variable revenue only for tlie years 1914 and 1920 to 1924 (rents are excluded, being fixed at £8693). Wharfage : 1914-—lnward, £12,668 ; outward,’ £6366; dues on vesse's, £5517 —£24,521. 1920 £8051; £3131—£22,612. 1921—£9037 ; £7939; £3323—£20,299. 1922—£§039 ; £8636; £3589 £9746; £6615; £3BB.B—total. £20,249. 1924—£10 291; £6295; £4061—£20,647. The income from nil sources amounted to £31,245 19s 4d, an increase of £447 11s lOd as compared wit'll the amount received during the previous year.

1914/1944 Loan Account: The sum of £778 0s Gd remains unexpended and is again shown as a credit balance in {lie 1914 Loan ExpencVturt Account.

Loan Expenditure—l 924-1925 Loan Account: The year opened with a debit balance of £14,676 10s 2d in this account, being moneys obtained from tho Bank and spent <ui anticipation of 1 lie loan. The cost of works and purchase of plant and materials during tho year, as referred to under the heading of harbor development, amounted to the sum of £108,263 7s 3d, with the addition of the cost of ra sing tlie loan £29,380 4s lid, the first half year’s interest £6250, plus £2O Bank Agency Fee, brought the total loan expenditure during the year up to the sum of £143,913 12s 2d. The debit balance at-the beginning of the year, less £3875 17s 8d refunded to loan account as referred to under the heading of general account. brought the tptal charges against the loan up to the sum of £154,714 4 s 8:1, leaving a balance of £95,285 15s 4d of the first insta’ment of the loan unexpended at 31st December. 1924.

Slnk.ug Fund, 19141944 Loan: The Sinking Fund, of the 1914 loan had accumulated to tho sum of £13,096 19s 81 at the end of the year. In the hands of the Public Trustee the fund ’.s ear.’rug 5 per cent. •Conclusion: I wish to again express my appreciation of tiie loyal service rendered by the executive officers and their stalls, and 1 thank tlie Board members for their deliberation and attention to all Board matters throughout the year.