CSCEC's journey of miracles makes stop at Papua New Guinea

About 500 people from all walks of life, including educational officers, local teachers, students and residents, attended the CSCEC Journey of Miracles 1978-2018 at Butuka Academy in Papua New Guinea (PNG) on Oct 22.

The activity was hosted by China Construction Steel Structure Corporation (CSCEC) to present the company's infrastructure achievements since China's reform and opening-up started in 1978.

The primary school of the CSCEC's Butuka Academy project [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]

The PNG event was the 32nd station of a journey to 40 cities in 10 countries that will last through November.

Butuka Academy is one of the infrastructure achievements of CSCEC. Attendees at the activity inspected the prefabricated constructed building and also got a look at a scientific and modern school.

The activity attracted mainstream media from China and PNG.

Infrastructure construction benefits locals

The construction project of Butuka Academy and its related equipment began on Oct 13, 2017.

Butuka Academy gives 3000 local primary and middle school students access to education, which is important in PNG and attracted Post-Courier, the country's major media, to report the project commencement as a historic event.

After the ceremony, Peter O'Neill, PNG's Prime Minister, sent a message to Xue Bing, China's Ambassador to PNG, expressing his gratitude for China's long-term support.

He added that Re-establishing Butuka Academy is an important livelihood project, which not only can make education opportunities more available to local students, but also boost local economic and social development. It reflects the good relations between China and PNG.

O'Neill visited the headquarter of CSCEC on Jun 21, 2018. He expressed his good wishes for the company's future development and said he hopes the cooperation will promote both nations' prosperity.

Nick Kuman, PNG's Minister of Education, visited Butuka Academy in October 2018. He called for expansion of new educational equipment around the country and said residents need to cherish the high-cost school and not to waste the educational opportunity.

CSCEC built the Butuka Academy with high quality

Post-Courier, the most influential newspaper in PNG, used its full page to cover the Butuka Academy story on March 23, 2018.

The project not only provided the PNG with a new school but with new technologies used in the construction as well.

Prefabricated construction improved the working efficiency by 50 percent, reduced waste by 50 percent and expanded the building's space by 10 percent.

Local teachers and students [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]

In addition, the construction followed the local architectural features of overhanging big roofs and green technologies to save land, energy and materials and improve the indoor environment.

CSCEC made safety a priority, and strictly followed China's construction standards and local regulations to ensure the project was both safe and of high-quality.

The company deployed a young but experienced team to the project. Despite many difficulties including frequent rainfall, epidemics, shortage of water and power and unstable public security, the team and local employees built a kindergarten, a primary school, a middle school, a teachers' apartment and a multifunctional building in just 77 days.

The number of local workers hired by the company was over 1,000, which eased the city's employment problem.

The Butuka Academy construction is a connection of cultures

PNG believes in a totem culture. CSCEC's team therefore erected a brightly-colored culture wall representing the high mountain regions.

Teachers and students visit a CSCEC exhibition. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]

However, locals who depend on the sea to live demanded that the company erase the totem. With communication and understanding, the team replaced the totem with one that reflects the reliance of the locals on the sea for their livelihoods in just one night.

The local residents appreciated the team's respect and high-efficiency and invited them to watch a folk-custom performance.

In addition, the city's residents learned about China's Ping-pang, Chinese knots and the Chinese year.