Could the Papua New Guinea government consider donating and freighting a container converted into a workshop for use at the NRH?
It has been announced that the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, the Hon. James Marape, will make an official visit to the Solomon Islands from 27 to 29 February. The Prime Minister will be accompanied by his wife and a delegation.
It is said Prime Minister Marape will discuss economic and trade matters with the Solomon Islands Government and, no doubt, because of the long-standing friendship and cordial relations with the Solomons consider other matters of mutual benefit and interests.
Because of that close bond with Papua New Guinea and previous help, financial and in kind over several years, would it be conceivably possible for Papua New Guinea to donate and ship a converted 20 ft container to the National Referral Hospital to be used as a replacement workshop for the manufacture of prosthetic limbs.
The old workshop at the NRH became so badly damaged by termites it fell into disuse and was demolished recently to make way for vehicular access to the site of the proposed building to house the CT scan machine being supplied to the NRH.
The Medical Superintendent at the NRH would like to see a container workshop on site to facilitate the work of the three local employees that have returned from overseas having been trained in the making of prosthetics.
The very kind donation of 300 crutches I have already written about as being provided soon by the Solomon Islands Forest Association (SFA) will meet interim needs for patients, and former patients of the NRH, with walking aids, but the provision of a converted container as a workshop would go some way to meeting the longer term requirements of the NRH.
In Papua New Guinea I am aware of one specialist company, Heima Builders, located in Lae, Morobe Province that fabricates containers to client’s preferences and ships the complete ones nationwide.
Illustrated are the before and after photos of a container conversion that could prove ideal for the NRH use if the Government of Papua New Guinea could possibly assist its close neighbor and friend once again.
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
