WHARFAGE CHARGES.

Taranaki Daily News, 20 July 1929, Page 12

WHARFAGE CHARGES.

The cordial manner in which the New Plymouth Harbour Board received, the suggestion to hold, an inquiry into the wharfage charges augurs, well for a satisfactory solution of the difficulty that has arisen. The matter is one in which the Taranaki Chamber of Commerce has been interested, and sufficient evidence had been placed before it to enable a request for investigation to be sent to the Harbour Board. The chamber suggested a conference of its representatives with those of the board, and this suggestion was agreed to at a meeting of the board on Thursday last. As was stated then, importers recognise that the board must have a certain scale of fees, and one that will produce sufficient revenue to cover port costs. In order to ensure this it may be necessary to fix charges more or less arbitrarily on certain classes of goods, and when this is the case anomalies, if not cases of actual injustice, are bound to arise. Now. that it has been agreed to appoint a joint committee representing both the harbour board and the chamber of commerce, to whom all correspondence in regard to wharfage dues -is to be referred, importers will have themselves to blame if they do not ens: re that any matters upon which they consider investigation is desirable are not brought before the committee. The fact that it has been appointed is proof that the desire of the harbour board and of . the Chamber of Commerce alike is to render the port of the utmost service to importers at the least possible cost, but if anomalies are to bo corrected importers’ must show where they exist.