HARBOUR BOARD AFFAIRS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23223, 22 June 1937, Page 7

HARBOUR BOARD AFFAIRS

FINANCE AND WORKS ADDRESS BY MR J. B. WATERS An address on Harbour Board affairs was given last night by Mr J. B. Waters to members of the Otago University Commerce Faculty Exstudents’ Association and of the Otago branch of the New Zealand Society of Accountants. Mr W. R. Brown occupied the chair. After briefly outlining the constitution of the board, Mr Waters explained that almost every major problem had to be considered from three points of view: the navigational. the engineering and the economic. Errors had been made in the past, as in all boards, and when this had occurred it had usually been through a lack of information on one of these vital aspects. A board elected on a franchise could not be expected to be equipped with the necessary technical knowledge, and this made it essential that the permanent staff should be highly qualified. Incidentally, he remarked, the Otago Harbour Board had been particularly fortunate in this respect. At the beginning of each financial year a very complete budget was made up, covering each month separately. The productiveness of the city and district had to be estimated and the probable revenue and expenditure calculated Projected works had also to be taken into account. The total assets of the board were £2,096,000 and the liabilities £1,191,000, leaving a surplus of £905,000. Last year the revenue had been £181,734 and the expenditure, including provision for depreciation, £ 175,520, leaving an actual profit of £6214. The Otago Harbour Board, he said, had borrowed as much as it considered advisable to in the meantime. In the early days, when a policy of providing waterways was embarked upon, huge loans had been raised but, strange to say, no sinking fund was established as it was considered that the revenue and the rents from the areas of reclaimed lands would be sufficient. The opening of the Panama canal was a contingency which was not anticipated and the consequent shifting of the shipping centre from Dunedin to Auckland and Wellington had brought about a drastic alteration in the situation. A reserve fund was then established and by the time the loans matured a considerable sum had been amassed. A policy of reduction of expenditure had to be embarked upon, and in the first year £40,000 was saved. The economies were very thorough and went into minute detail. Eventually excellent terms were obtained on the loans, and then the board had to face the task of building up again. Maintenance had been reduced to a minimum and there was much repair work to be carried out. One of the first tasks was the rail connection with the Victoria wharf at a cost of approximately £ 5000. The widening of the Bowen pier at Port Chalmers had cost about £13,500, and next month similar work on the George street pier, at Port Chalmers, would be commenced at an estimated cost of £30,000. The rebuilding of the Birch street wharf at Dunedin was also to be undertaken, and after an estimated expenditure of about £47,500, it would be the finest wharf in Dunedin. The total cost of the works, some finished, some in hand, and some about to be undertaken, was £150,400. Of this sum £35,000 would be found from loans and there was £40,000 in reserves at the present time. ,In subsidies from the Government about £IO,OOO would be received, and the balance of £65,400 would have to be found from revenue. This amount was to be spread over a period of three years, and the board would have Its hands full to meet the commitments. When this programme was completed the port of Otago would be in good order and well equipped to handle cargo and shipping with efficiency and despatch.

Much work had been done on the Victoria channel recently, he said, «snd the reason for this was an interesting one. The minimum depth of the channel at low tide was 20ft 6in, but whereas a few years ago the tendency was to deepen the draught of ships, the tendency now was to widen them. At one time a ship 50ft wide was exceptionally large, but now they were up to 70ft. This made ts necessary to widen the channel. At Port Chalmers, continued Mr Waters, it was the custom to handle the bulk of the overseas export trade and at Dunedin the bulk of the imports were handled. At Ravensbourne there was the sulphur and phosphate wharf and at the end of the Victoria wharf there was the oil wharf. Both of these were very profitable. Since so much of the work of the port was connected with the tides it was not possible, he contended, to maintain maximum efficiency under a 40-hour week, for which the union was at present agitating. In reply to a remark at liie conclusion of the address, Mr Waters said that, in his opinion, it had not been a mistake to develop the Upper Harbour instead of concentrating at Port Chalmers. Owing to the nature of the bay at Port Chalmers, development was not possible. Only four or five large overseas vessels could be accommodated there and there was no room for expansion. During the ocak loading season, the output could not be handled there without the assistance of Dunedin. The productivity of the district was increasing rapidly, and accordingly the exports would increase. Greater exports had always meant greater imports and to handle this traffic he continued improvement of the shipping accommodation at Dunedin was necessary.