HARBOUR BOARD POLICY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20867, 6 November 1929, Page 12

HARBOUR BOARD POLICY.

TO TEE EDITOR.

Sib.—lt is rumoured that the Harbour Board is now seriously considering spending upwards of £20,000 upon the construction of a wharf and upon the dredging of an approach for it for the use of the new fertiliser works, for which the public is now being asked to subscribe capital. The facts are,, briefly, that the Harbour Board, when approached by the promoters, of the new company, agreed to erect a wharf at a cost not exceeding £SOOO (plus an estimated cost for dredging of approximately £8000), This promise has been made by the board, and the board must carry out its undertaking. Now it is known that certain influence is being brought to bear on the board to construct a . structure far more elaborate than originally intended. It is known that several members. of the board are endeavouring to carry the others with them. One member at least is personally interested in the construction of the new fertiliser works.

Most business men in Dunedin would like to see the new fertiliser works succeed, but. knowing the position of the Harbour Board’s finances, they are seriously perturbed at what appears on the face of it (if the rumour is true) to be an excess of extravagance, which will benefit one trading company only. In these, days of keen competition, the Harbour Board's problem of keeping the wharfing facilities up to_ date and keeping down dues to a level which will encourage industrial enterprise in Dunedin, is not an easy one. Even if an expenditure of, say, £20.000 upon the_ construction of this new wjiarf may be justified in time by the additional revenue received, business men in Dunedin feel that if the board has £6OOO to give away it could well be expended in a way which would result in general benefit to the whole commercial and agricultural community and help Dunedin to compete on more favourable terms with other manufacturing centres whose inward and outward dues are lower than ours, and whose wharves are _ connected up by adequate railway facilities and cranes which considerably minimise the cost of handling goods. Would the expenditure of an additional £6OOO on the proposed wharf in any way affect the volume of business the new fertiliser company hopes to do? I think not. I understand that a meeting of the Harbour Board to consider this matter is to be held at an early date, and I think it behoves every business man and private citizen in this community to let the hoard " know their views on this matter.—l. am, etc.. Observer. Dunedin. November 5.