A Russell man has been awarded one of the Commonwealth's highest honours in recognition of decades of road building in Papua New Guinea.
Derek Michael Jepson, better known as Mick, was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the Queen's Birthday Honours announced by the Governor-General of Papua New Guinea, Grand Chief Bob Dadae, for service to commerce and the community.
Mr Jepson was born in Derbyshire, UK, and moved to New Zealand in 1982. He has lived in the Russell area for the past 25 years while travelling back and forth to Papua New Guinea, where he founded the civil contracting company Global Construction in 1994.
The firm started with half a dozen machines but is now biggest roading company in Papua New Guinea with about 300 machines and up to 1000 employees and $300 million in contracts at any one time. The company does everything from quarrying and rock crushing to road building, tarsealing and aerodrome construction.
Mr Jepson said the firm was committed to educating and promoting the local workforce, and its 1000 workers meant its wages fed about 7000 people.