Trukai Industries promotes local staff to join sister company

Two Papua New Guineans and an expatriate employees of Trukai Industries will be joining SolRice, a Solomon Islands based rice company of which both organisations are subsidiaries of the SunRice Group.

Trukai Industries’ National Sales Manager Joshua Karo Walo will now be occupying the role of National Sales Manager for SolRice. While Request for Proposal Contracts and Sustainability Manager Raita Age, will be SolRice’s new Operations and Warehouse Manager and Loganthran Rajanthran will now be the Head of Finance for SolRice. The team are looking at positively contributing towards the growth of the company by learning about the business environment and improving its sales and distribution.

Joshua Karo Walo, 43 from Kapari Viriolo village in the Abau District of Central Province, was excited about his new role and explained how he looked forward to imparting his skills, knowledge and experience with the team that he will be working closely with. “I am ready to contribute positively to the company for growth and expansion under my leadership, while emphasising on team work, honesty, reliability, accountability and focus,” said Walo.

A salesperson by profession, Walo joined Trukai Industries four years ago as the National Sales Manager overseeing the Highlands and Momase regions and discussed what his inspirations and motivations in life were.

“My family has been my greatest inspiration and they motivate me to work hard and be the better version of myself. By being a better person, I can be able to be a good leader in my work as well,” Walo added. His message to other aspiring Papua New Guineas who wished to be successful professionals was to put God and family first and to always work on improving oneself. “Work on yourself daily and aspire to be better than you were yesterday. Put God and your family first and they will guide you in your everyday life and your career success,” said Walo.

Raita Age, 42 from Alomari village in Kuare, Ialibu – Pangia, Southern Highlands Province has an array of experiences spanning from warehouse and distribution management to sales, logistics, planning, contracts and sustainability.

Being the first member of his community to receive a university education, Age’s motivation lies in his upbringing and the challenges he endured growing up in the village.

“I come from a rural village where my parents were subsistence farmers earning annual income of around K50. I had to wear a bulk belt with tanget and malo throughout my primary school education and even graduated in my traditional clothing. I was the least privileged and the first child from my community to make it to university. Throughout my education career, the feeling of being less privileged and the challenges this brought about in my life were the biggest obstacles I had to endure every single day. This story has been my motivation,” said Age.

Having obtained a degree in Business Accounting, Age first joined Trukai in 2015 as a Distribution Centre Trainee Manager and has progressively moved to other managerial roles within the business. He will bring to SolRice his 15 years’ worth of experience and is looking forward to making an impact in the operations in a positive way. Age described feeling overjoyed when the company had advised that he would join SolRice,

“I am ecstatic about my new role and this is a massive news for my family and I. I would like to thank Trukai management for believing in me,” he said. Raita’s message to other Papua New Guineans who aspire to be successful professionals is to work for their career and not necessarily for money. “I strive for higher results for the operation I work for and until I am competitive with the industry professionals who were born out of good and privileged families, I will not stop striving,” he concluded.

The former Financial Controller for Trukai Industries, Loganthran Rajanthran was with the company for two years and has now moved on to occupy the role of Head of Finance at SolRice and seemed very excited and determined to take on the challenge.

“The management of Solrice business was handed to Trukai in May/ June’24. This reflects the confidence the SunRice Group has in Trukai’s Leadership and Management team,” said Rajanthran.

He added, “I put my hand up for the opportunity to support, grow and be part of the Solrice Management Team. This is another exciting chapter in my career. I believe with the strongoperational skill sets the Trukai team bring on board, we can grow and expand the Solrice business. It’s still early days, but it’s looking very promising.”

Trukai Industries CEO Alan Preston explained that employee promotion often brings new responsibilities and a sense of management, which is a key factor in employee satisfaction as it helps them grow.

“Joshua Walo, Raita Age and Loganthran Rajanthran’s promotion to join SolRice demonstrates Trukai’s commitment to rewarding high performers within the business. Their expertise will be an added bonus for SolRice as they transition into the Solomon Islands’ business environment and look at ways to better improve the business,” said Preston.

Trukai Industries and SolRice employees are among 2,000 people from around the world within the SunRice Group who bring different life views and experiences. This difference is what makes the SunRice Group unique and gives it the ability to think dynamically and create forward-looking solutions. It is for this reason that they actively foster a culture of inclusion that celebrates differences and enables their people to feel a true sense of belonging.