News in Brief
EastWest Transport Delivers Desks and Chairs to Primary School Students
13 June 2024
On Tuesday 11th June, EastWest Transport (EastWest) proudly completed a successful partnership with the Rotary Club and Soroptimist International to donate 50 brand new student desk and chair sets to Baruni Primary School.
An official handover ceremony was held at the school where representatives from EastWest, alongside partners from the Rotary Club and Soroptimist International, presented the desks and chairs to the students and school’s Head Teacher, Ms. Irene Gaudi.
"On behalf of the entire Baruni Primary School community, I want to express our deepest gratitude to EastWest Transport, the Rotary Club, and Soroptimist International for this donation," said Ms. Gaudi. "Desks and chairs are often a significant expense for schools in Papua New Guinea, and this generous contribution will make a world of difference for our students."
The desks were made possible through the collaborative efforts of the Rotary Club and City Mission’s carpentry program in Port Moresby, who constructed the desks using locally sourced materials. EastWest played a vital role by assembling and delivering the sets to the school, ensuring they were ready for immediate use.
"EastWest Transport is committed to supporting the surrounding communities in which it operates," said Nicholas Bury, Commercial General Manager, Steamships Logistics.
"Baruni village is home to many of our valued employees, and we recognized a critical need to support the local school. This donation of desks and chairs will contribute to enhancing the learning experience for students and create a more comfortable and conducive learning environment, allowing students in Baruni to thrive and reach their full potential.”
EastWest Transport's collaboration with the Rotary Club and Soroptimist International demonstrates the company's commitment to investing in the local community. This donation of desks and chairs will have a lasting impact on the learning experience of countless students at Baruni Primary School.
Steamships Celebrates World Environment Day CEPA
12 June 2024
To sustain our environment, collaborative efforts—regardless of scale, are essential to effecting enduring change for the benefit of both present and future generations. Steamships through its stakeholder relations donated 300 native tree species, including wheelie bins to the Conservation & Environment Protection Authority’s (CEPA) World Environment Day celebratory activities. The theme for the 2024 World Environment Day observance focuses on Land Restoration, Desertification, and Drought Resilience, emphasizing the urgency of collective action in addressing these critical environmental issues. These provisions will directly support planned activities in five schools across NCD and Central Province.
Congratulations to our the GDP class of 2024
16 March 2024
On Friday 16 February, Steamships Managing Director Rupert Bray, along with our HR team celebrated Samantha Longai, Elijah Numoi and Beverly Tungal who have just completed a 4-year rotation within the Steamships businesses as part of the Company’s Graduate Development Program. Each have been deeply immersed within the Steamships Logistics, Hospitality and Property divisions being challenged and learning along the way.
Special Mention must also be extended to our IT Pathway Pioneers - Joycelyn Tonok, Flavia Babate and Simon Kunai. True trailblazers in innovation and technology.
Vula’a Rivilina Elementary begins school year on a high note
05 February 2024
Beaming smiles showed the joy and excitement on the faces of students of Vula’a Rivilina Elementary School as they sat at new desks inside their brand-new double classroom donated by John Swire & Sons Ltd (Swire) through the Swire Philanthropic Fund. John Swire & Sons Ltd is a privately held company with a long association with PNG through its shipping arm, Swire Shipping, and for the last 50 years as a major shareholder in flag-carrying local conglomerate, Steamships Trading Company Ltd.
The classroom was formally opened and handed over to the School Board and Hula Community in a ceremony conducted at the school grounds on Wednesday 31 January 2024.
In his speech, Finance Director of Steamships, Michael Scantlebury, shared that this project was a collaboration between Steamships staff and concerned members of Hula Village.
“Steamships has a long-standing relationship with the Hula Community which formed out of our staff regularly visiting this area for kite boarding. Through this recreational activity, we learned of the plight of this school. This began conversations to explore options for how we could contribute towards the school’s redevelopment. Eventually our proposal was supported by Swire, who asked Steamships to lead the delivery of the project on their behalf.”
Months of community engagement and planning were followed by building construction which started in November 2023 and completed on 31 December.
In accepting the keys to the new classroom, Kilavigi Ruga, School Board Representative of Vula’a Rivilina Elementary School thanked Steamships and Swire for recognising the need within the community.
“For many years, we’ve experienced funding challenges to carry out the repair and maintenance of our school classroom, but out of that difficulty, we’ve received this blessing. The partnership with Swire and Steamships enables us to implement the changes required since the education restructure and improve our school facilities for the benefit of our children.”
The total project value is K250,000 which covers a rural double classroom with teachers’ office space in between, 30 students’ desks, 2 teachers’ desks, chairs and shelves, blackboards and pinboards and freight, cartage and building contractor costs.
Vula’a Rivilina Elementary School is the first beneficiary of the Swire Education Infrastructure Programme (SEIP) fully funded by Swire and implemented by Steamships. The objective of the programme is to provide access to basic education for school communities in Papua New Guinea through the provision of education infrastructure.
This programme aligns to the major outcome areas of the National Education Plan 2021-2029 supporting the governments agenda to provide adequate school infrastructure to cater for the education structure change and infrastructure providing environments that are conducive to learning.
