DO SOMETHING GOOD: A HELPING HAND IN FIJI
Cyclone Winston devastated Fiji earlier this year, leaving thousands of people homeless. One New Zealand company actively engaged in helping the people of Fiji back into their homes is road and construction company Higgins.
Higgins, which is one of New Zealand’s largest road and infrastructure companies, is also actively engaged in Fiji. After seeing first hand the destruction from Cyclone Winstone, the Higgins team is rebuilding the homes of its staff which were destroyed in the cyclone.
Through donated time and materials Higgins has already rebuilt seven homes, and repaired nine, for its Fijian staff. The work is being managed by a retired expat builder, Graeme Ritchie, who has given his time voluntarily and the work is being undertaken by a tutor, Nick Ali, and four carpentry students from the Manukau Institute of Technology in Auckland, supported by four local Higgins employees. The work is continuing and Higgins has pledged F$250,000 to the recovery effort.
Management asked Higgins group road maintenance manager Ray Edwards to outline what they are doing as Fiji continues to repair itself. Why did the Higgins team decide to dedicate time and resources to this project? Higgins has been actively engaged in Fiji since 2013. We employ 207 local people and 18 expats. The Higgins team saw first-hand the destruction and devastation in Fiji caused by Cyclone Winston earlier this year, which had an immediate and lasting impact on the lives of our staff and their families in Fiji and we wanted to ensure we did everything we could in support.
Since 2013 we’ve invested more than NZ$10m in Fiji in the form of property, machinery and resources. We’ve also implemented a number of initiatives including donating computers to schools, providing community rubbish bins, sponsorship of sporting events and a significant financial contribution to a Nadi orphanage. Who made the call to help and how did the idea initially come up? The Higgins team has been involved in the clean-up effort since day one. Decisions around practical and financial support were made by Higgins staff on the ground and the management team in New Zealand. Do you think other New Zealand businesses should be doing the same? We believe it is important that New Zealand businesses work to support the communities in which they work. Other significant community support [by Higgins] has been provided to the Manawatu Turbos rugby team over many years, the Hawke’s Bay Sports Park and Pukaha Mt Bruce Wildlife Centre. Did the Higgins employees building the homes donate their time too? Higgins Fiji provided the four staff to assist in the rebuilding of staff homes. Who donated the materials? Fletcher Building provided three container loads of building materials at a highly discounted rate to support the rebuild and repairs. Additional time and materials were donated by us. Higgins is spending F$250,000, where is that being spent? F$100,000 of this amount was given to the Fijian Attorney General Aiyaz SayedKhaiyum to go into the Fijian Prime Minister Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama’s Cyclone Winston relief fund.
Building and repair work to the homes of Higgins staff, seriously affected by Cyclone Winston, has been to the value of about F$150,000. Higgins staff on the ground have also identified and distributed additional aid where needed in order to make the biggest difference possible.