International coffee company helps Goroka surgical ward

by JAMES KILA

A MAJOR coffee company in the United States has reciprocated its receipts of coffee from Papua New Guinea by donating K80,000 to the renovation of the surgical ward at the Goroka Base Hospital, Eastern Highlands province.

The project officially opened by the president of the Goroka Rotary Club Florence Jaukave, whose charity organization has been instrumental in facilitating the work at the hospital recently.

Ms Jaukave at the opening thanked David Hannon of the New Guinea Highlands Coffee Exports for the company’s contribution to helping to the people of Eastern Highlands.

Mr Hannon explained that New Guinea Highlands Coffee Exports through its sister companies EDE consulting and Rothfos Corporation have joined forces with Starbucks to provide assistance to the people of Eastern Highlands.

Mr Hannon stated that Starbucks, which is an international company based in the United States and Germany and buys a lot of coffee from PNG. Therefore, as a token of appreciation and also as its commitment to audit-trail its coffee of origin and at least provide or give back something to the place where it is receiving its coffee.

The project was done by Goroka Builders and took almost two months to complete. The work involved a complete renovation of ward two. These include rebuilding of the burns recovery providing isolated rooms within the ward. The leaking taps and roofs of the ward were also repaired and replaced. The entire ward was also repainted and all the fly-wire replaced. Both the male and female washrooms were also extensively renovated with the installation of new shower cubicles, hand basins and toilet cubicles.

“The aim of the project was to living conditions for the people where New Guinea Highlands Coffee Exports sources its coffee in cooperation with Starbucks Coffee, an important partner in the region,” stated Mr Hannon.

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