Bay people struggle to contact Solomon Islands after big earthquake

SOLOMON CONNECTION: Solomon Islands minister Steven Abana meets kiwifruit workers at Aongatete Coolstores, Katikati, in this file photo taken before the earthquake.

Bay people were anxiously trying to phone friends, family and business connections in the Solomon Islands after a massive earthquake struck there yesterday.

The islands provided cacao to Bay chocolatiers, workers to the kiwifruit industry and a small number of permanent residents.

Solomon Islanders were shaken awake at 6.12am New Zealand time by a magnitude 7.8 earthquake centred 68km west of Kirakira.

Hamani Kiwi Chocolatiers owner Darren Foreman said he sourced all of his cacao from the Solomons to use in his small-scale factory in Parkvale.

"We use a single-source cacao from the eastern part," he said this morning. "If there are any big issues over there it will affect us, but we don't know if it will yet."

Later in the day it appeared that there would be no cacao shortage, as the Bay's major importer managed to confirm with its Solomon Islands branch that production and shipments would continue.

C-Corp, which makes chocolate in Tauranga, confirmed that a six-tonne shipment would get through during the next week and expected that future shipments would be unaffected.

Director Glenn Yeatman said that there were no Bay people at the Solomon Islands branch, which employed locals.

"They got a big shake," he said. "Nobody was killed - thank the Lord."

Solomon Islanders often worked in the Bay's kiwifruit industry as part of the Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme, which brings workers from overseas to plant, maintain, harvest and pack crops in the horticulture and viticulture industries.

Kiwifruit Growers Incorporated chief executive Nikki Johnson said the peak time for seasonal workers was around April and May, and there was only a relatively small number in the Bay at the moment.

Aongatete Packhouse manager Clive Exelby said he was trying to phone contacts in the Solomons, but had been unable to get through.

His business employed workers from several parts of the Solomons, including Honiara, Gizo and Guadalcanal, typically bringing in 29 workers for about six months each year. Most of the workers returned after having been employed here previously.

He did not expect the quake to affect the seasonal migration, as workers were not expected to arrive until at least March.