TOKOMARU HARBOR BOARD

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18254, 24 November 1933, Page 12

TOKOMARU HARBOR BOARD

SATISFACTORY FINANCES CARGOES NEARLY A RECORD (Herald Correspondent.) The Tokomaru Bay Harbor Board lias a satisfactory credit balance for the year ended September 30, and the cargoes handled during that time were nearly a record. The secretary and harbormaster, Captain S. J. Plummer, in his financial report, a credit balance of £ll7l, after allowing for £I3BO as depreciation. The board completed the purchase of the New Zealand Shipping Company’s buildings and land on May 61, and made a final -payment of £2620 12s 9d, and the title deeds had been transferred to the board. In June, the board redeemed the No. a loan of £4OOO, and the balanco of the No. 2 sinking fund of £204 5s Id was transferred to the credit of the No. 1 sinking fund. Liabilities at the end of the financial year totalled £20,000 to the Public Trustee, while the sinking fund investment of £4493 brought the net liability to £15,507. The lire insurance fund had a credit of £64 3 4 s 6d, including a transfer of £l2O to it during the year. Dealing with cargoes, the report stated that 10,315 bales of wool were dumped and shipped direct on to overseas vessels and 2477 bales were sent to Auckland and Napier. The wool handled totalled 13,078 bales, the largest total handled over the wharf by the board in one year and an increase of 1201 bales over the preceding year. Al) cargoes handled during the year, both in and out, totalled 14,792 tons. This is the second largest figure ever recorded, being dose up to the previous year’s record of ]4.823 tons. During the year, the board was working undei a scale of reduced charges, which wore 50 per cent, lower for handling skins and hides, 68 per cent, lower on wharfage for staves and butter box timber, and 14 per cent, lower for wharfage on frozen meat. The Lighterage Company had reduced its charges on lightering wool by 3d a bale. The percentage of labor costs to cargo handled was 3s 2d a ton, compared with 2s llld last year. The cost of labor from ship to shed was 11.6 d per ton.

Board members at the meeting on Tuesday commented on the satisfactory figures shown in the report, and decided to make arrangements for the conversion of the balance of the No. 1 £20,000 loan totalling £15,400, and if successful the present half-yearly payments of £SOO will be reduced to £468 11s 9d.