Coffee Companies

Relations Between Coffee Companies In New Guinea: Some Corrections

An article entitled “Kinjibi’s Chair ian Takes the Lid off the Coffee of’, and which dealt in a general ay with the company - promotion :tivities in New Guinea of a Mr. rank Powell, was published in °IM” in June, 1961.

Some time afterwards, solicitors in racted by Mr. J. L. Cameron wrote ► the Publisher and pointed out, on ?half of Arabica Coffee Limited and rabica Coffee Pty. Ltd., that the •tide conveyed a wrong impression. r e replied that we had no intention F doing any injustice to Mr. ameron, whose work on behalf of e company is well known and ap 'eciated; and we agreed to publish e following statement by Mr. ameron’s solicitors: \UR clients are gravely concerned " at what they regard as a mis presentation of the facts in relation the activities of these companies id of Mr. Cameron himself, and at e damaging effect which the publi ition of this article is likely to have i the affairs of the companies.

In the first place, reference is made a Mr. Powell and it is made to >pear that Mr. Powell and asso ates “registered Arabica Coffee Ltd.

New Guinea and Arabica Coffee ;y. Limited in Sydney”. We are in ructed that this is not the case. The t. Powell to whom you refer was :ver more than an employee of one ■ both of these companies and was )t a director or a promoter of either : them. He was employed as a sales an. Mr. Powell had nothing to do ith and was in no way concerned the registration of either company.

In the next place our instructions e that Mr. Powell’s employment by ese companies was terminated dur g 1957 and he was in no way Tther concerned with them.

On the second page of the article is made to appear that Mr. J. L. ameron, retired bank manager, was director of Goroka Coffee Holdings td. This is not the fact. Mr, ameron was never a director or in ly way concerned with this com my.

The article states it was reported iat Arabica Coffee Pty. Limited ould become in some way a trustee

company for the Goroka Coffee con cern’s unit buyers. This was never the case. In the next paragraph it is made to appear that the Board of Directors of Arabica Coffee and of Goroka Coffee were similar in per sonnel. Indeed it is so stated. This too is untrue.

Next reference is made to “some sort of revolt in the ranks of Arabica Coffee”. This is a vague and un informed statement which can be calculated only to damage Arabica Coffee and its directors, for no revolt of any kind ever took place.

It is stated in the article that con nections between Arabica Coffee and Goroka Coffee if any were

severed. This is another attempt identify or at least associate the i\ companies. The fact is that the were not any connections betwe* them.

Whatever information your co tributor may have had concerni: Kinjibi Holdings Ltd. and Goro Coffee Ltd. he had no justificati< whatever for associating the activiti of all these companies. Whatever £ sociation there may have been—ai we do not know whether there w any between Kinjibi Holdings Lt and Goroka Coffee Holdings Ltd.neither of these companies was in ai way associated with the Arabica cor panics.