LOAN SUBSCRIBED

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVII, Issue 21529, 16 December 1939, Page 16

LOAN SUBSCRIBED

Harbour Improvement Scheme Board Expresses Satisfaction Satisfaction that the sum of £229.000 had been raised for the Timaru Harbour Improvement scheme was expressed by the chairman. Mr W. T. Ritchie, at the meeting of the Harbour Board yesterday. Mr Ritchie explained that although the Board had been authorised to raise a loan of £242,000. it was not intended to raise the £13.000 allocated for the purchase of wharf electric cranes in the meantime. "When the year commenced the sum of £29,600 had been raised by the sale of debentures at three and a half per cent.,” said the chairman. “Further sales amounting to £3900 were made at this interest rate and the sum of £65.000 was placed with the State Advances Corporation also at 31 per cent. The balance of the loan remained* to be raised at 4 per cent,., and by September 30. 1939. the total raised from all sources was £165.900," said Mr Ritchie. "It is not intended that the amount of £13.000 reserved for the wharf electric cranes will be raised in the meantime, but apart from this sum it can be stated here that the balance of the loan was finally raised by November 30, 1939.

“The negotiations with the State Advances Corporation regarding the advance of £65.000 were carried out with no little difficulty and involved a great deal of study. The thanks of the Board are due to Mr F. R. Flatman. who acted as chairman during this period during my absence in England, and for his work in obtaining terms which were much better than those ruling at the time, and which just enabled the Board to arrange its finances to meet the additional amortisation repayments required. The Board’s thanks are due also to the Hon. the Minister of Finance and his officers of the State Advances Corporation for their assistance in finding a basis which met the conditions imposed by the Board’s restricted finances. Loan Servicing "Two factors will have a bearing on the amounts required and available for loan servicing during the coming year.” continued Mr Ritchie, "namely, that the full burden of the increase in the rate of interest to 41 per cent, will be felt and that the war may reduce the amount of overseas shipping to visit the port. The Board will require to devote the closest attention to its income and. if necessary, early consideration must be given to ways and means of augmenting the revenue. It is interesting to recall that at the time the loan proposal was placed before the ratepayers it was claimed that the scheme was workable ‘while times remain normal.’ The war situation is definitely abnormal but. to date, there has been no reason to doubt the above claim, and provided no reduction in shipping is experienced, present indications are that the harbour improvement programme can be brought to a successful conclusion without increases in charges or rates. Progress of Work “The work completed to date under the harbour improvement programme Is shown by the following figures,” continued Mr Ritchie. “The total length of the new North Mole constructed Is 225 feet. The total amount

of stone quarried during the operations which commenced on December 12. 1938. is 12.412 tons. Of the above stone the Eastern Extension Mole gap has received 3343 tons and the new North Mole 9016 tons. A total of 699 dredge loads of the dredging programme have been completed. During the 1937-1938 financial year £34.783 4 9 was expended under the lean of £242.000. and £38.897 13 2 during the 1938-1939 financial year, making a total of £73.680 17 11. Quarry Work “As a result of experience gained to date and a revision in the sections of the new North Mole, the engineer (Mr Charman» now estimates that the total stone to be quarried will be 106.000 tons, for which the sum of £64,000 is available. The necessary development work has now been completed. and the quarry has been in operation long enough to enable an estimate of probable costs to be prepared. To date 12.512 tons of stone have been quarried at a cost of £26.500 leaving about 93 500 tons to be obtained at a cost of £37.500. being 8 - a ton. exclusive of overhead charges. The actual monthly costs per ton. exclusive of overhead on cost have been as follows: July 10 -. August 15 -. Sentember 10 '-. October 5 3. November 54. and it is therefore reasonable to hone that the work might be completed for the sum available. Ideal weather for quarry work had been a factor in securing such low costs. An early opportunity will be taken to have a sounding plan completed, when a full revision of the dredging programme will will made. Removing North Mole “Negotiations have been completed with the successful tenderer for the contract of raising the old North Mole, and the Board, at the time of | preparing this report, awaits the signing of the contract. The contract i price is within the total sum of loan ; money available.”