PORTOBELLO ROAD BOARD.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10035, 28 April 1894, Page 2 (Supplement)

PORTOBELLO ROAD BOARD.

TO THB EDITOB.

g IE( Now that the annual election is round perhaps it would not be out of place to aay a word or two with a view to getting the ratepayers of the district to take a little more interest in matters pertaining to the roads of the district in which they reside. The people of the Peninsula seem to b3 a long-suffering lot, and so long as they can manage to make both ends meet the majority of them are content to pursue " the even tenor of their way." Thi3 is not as it should be, and I think it behoves every ratepayer in the district to take some interest, be it ever so slight, in the affairs of the road board. Thero are several grievances connected with the Portobello Road Board and its affairs which might be adjusted by the infusion of a little new blood. I do not propose to take op too much of your valuable space, but will content myself to show a few cases where reforms might bo made.

First and foremost is the bridge at Anderson's Bay. This unsightly straoture is fast becoming a danger to traffic, and matters have come to such a pitch now that the road board disclaim hiving auy control over tho road or bridge, and have erected notices to that effect, and warning travellers lhat they will not be responsible for any accident that may take placa. Surely if the road has never been given over to the control of tho board they could take steps to get it made ovar. They gave permission to the Perry Company to put it in its present state, and if they could do this, it does not seem as if they did not have any control over it at that time. Be that as it may, it is high time something was done, or there will be a serious accident taking place there some day.

Another grievance is the toll bar. This toil bar waß put on the road some few years ago, I believe, to reduce an overdraft which the boßrd had incurred at the bank. Most of the settlers were led to believe that as soon as the board was clear of its liabilities the toll would ba removed : it remains there to this day. Having occasion to travel on thia road, I have met and conversed with a good many of the Bottlers, and they all agree that they had as good ft road beforo the advent of the toll as they hava had sines. What, then, is tho object of the toll bar? The overdraft has long since been paid, the road is not any better: what then is it for ? It seems to me that the object in keeping it there is to provide a good berth for the surfaceman. When the board wanted a collector they stipulated that he should have work as surfaceman at tho rate of 53 6d per day. This, with the amount paid as collector, some £30 per annum and a free house, places tho surfaceman in a very envious^sition. I am not assuming for one moment that tho surfaceman is to be blamed for taking this; but when I Bad that he is the inspector's father-in-law, and that other surfacemen, more abk-bodiod than he, have to be content with the .5j 6d per day and no freo bouse, it looks as if something were radically wrong. I htve heard it hinted more than ence that tho members of tho board ure a happy family, but I was not aware that they were so thoughtful of their poorer relatives as they are. I have bafore me figures whiah will go a long way to prove the truth of my assertion that new blood is badly wanted. They are as follow :— Amount collected ut toll bar, 11 months ending November, £128 5s ; amount paid to collector, £28 4s and 5s 6d per day ; £114 lls 9 J (cartiug), paid to a brother of one member; £23 4s 9d (day work), paid to a son of auother member; and so on.

So fur as I am aware, these men are as much entitled to employment as anyone'else; bat when any matters of reform ate brought up at the board meeting?, members who occupy a position independent of what I have stated above are the moat likely to see where they are meat needed, and vote accordingly. When a member is elected to a seat on a public body, it ia bis duty to represent the district as a whole, as well as bis own particular district.

Trusting that the ratepayers will bestir themselves to a sense of their duty in the matter of this election, and apologising for trespi6aiug so much on your space,—l am, &c, April 25. Cosmo.