OTAGO HARBOUR BOARD.

Otago Witness, Issue 3002, 27 September 1911, Page 41

OTAGO HARBOUR BOARD.

! CONTRACT FOR NEW TUG LET. A special meeting of the Otago Harbour Board was held on the 22nd., and was attended by Messrs W. Belcher (chairman), J. Loudon, W. J. H. Walker, J. Dickson, W. Barclay, F. W. Platts, H. E. Moller, E. C. Hazlett, J. H. F. Hamel, H. C. Campbell, and J, E. Keenan. I| TENDEH FOR NEW. TUG ACCEPTED. 1 The Chairman intimated that the next business was to consider the tender for a new tug, and also to consider the report presented by .the engineer with regard to the harbour / , Mr Hamel asked if there was any intention to differentiate between the amount tendered for by local firms and the amount by foreign firms. The Chairman: That will be a matter for the board to decide when the tenders are opened. Mr Hamel said he would move that before the tenders opened consideration • be given to the principle he had mentioned. I If there was a -desire that local firms ! should have an opportunity of tendering they should have an estimate from their engineer, and ask local firms only to tender; then if it was seen on a comparison with the engineer's estimate that the price . was too high intimation could have been I given to these firms that they (the board) would have general open tenders. ' The Chairman said the meeting had been called for-the specific purpose of reeeiv-. ing tenders for a new tug, and the question of which tender would be accepted would be discussed after the tenders were opened. They were not bound to accept the lowest or anv tender. Ho could not accept. Mr Hamel'* motion. Mr Walkear suggested that -the tenders be opened and discussed in committee, and moved accordingly. a The motion was seconded by Mr Wilkinson, and carried, and the board went into committee. After fully an hour and a-half's -discussion in committee it was resolved—" That the tender of Stevenson and Cook, £22,778 16s for the construction of the new tug and salvage steamer, be and hereby is accepted, provided it is built in Dunedin or Port Chalmers " 1 The tenders received were: —Hongkong and Whampoa Dock Company, £18,500; Hawthornes Company, Leith, £19,035; Reynoldson, Soutfli Shselsi, £20,100; " Taikoo Dockyard Company, Hongkong', £21,000; Ferguson Bros., Glasgow, £21,500; Bow, M'Lauchlan and Company, Paisley, £22,044; Fleming and Ferguson, Paisley, £22,350; Stevenson and. Cook, Port Chalmers, £22,778; J. MacGregor and Company, Duiiedin, £22,965; Thornvcroft, Woolston j Works, £23,250; Eltringham, South Shiels, £23,465; and the Ailsa Shipbuilding Company, Troon,. £24,000. : During- the discussion in committee it was pointed out that if an outside firm's, tender was accepted it would probably have meant aji addition to the sum tendered for of about £IOOO for inspecting commission. Further, it was hoped that the Government would see its way to abate certain duties on part of the equipment of the tug, ■ On the resuming in open meeting Mr Loudon said he was exceedingly gratified that the board' had come to the decision. He hoped it would bo the beginning of, ! an. era in shipbuilding in Dunedin. It ! had been one of his pet schemes for a long time, and on the occasion of the j launching of one of the ferry steamers ] he had made the, suggestion that the Union Comspany might, with advantage, put clown j a steamer in Dunedin.. He hoped what had been done by the board would be the start of shipbuilding in Duned'in. i - Mr Walker said it was a matter of j extreme congratulation that the motion j accepting the tender of a local firm had j been carried unanimously. It would show ! the public outside that the board was ; anxious to do what it could for the workers of Dunedin. Mr Platts said, as" representing Port Chalmers, it was a great satisfaction to him that the contract had been given to a Port Chalmers firm, and 1 he felt convinced that the work would be done by the firm to the utmost satisfaction of the board's engineer and to the satisfaction of the members- of the board itself. The Chairman expressed his pleasure at the board being unanimous in the matter He was pleased to see that members were imbued with the idea that they should give as much work as possible to their own people, and the successful firm, he was sure, would turn out a job that would be a. Civdit to ail concernedi