BY JOHN HOUANIHAU
Social media users have been sharing John Cutforth Iamaea’s three hollow block brick molder a lot lately.
“I don’t think people will go crazy about it. It’s funny to me and I little bit surprised. a lot of people from all over the provinces and overseas also call and chatted me,’’ he said.
The father, a mechanical engineer, welder, and graphic artist himself, is no stranger to converting waste into useful products.
“This one is my third. Two of my friends bought two of my block brick molders. They gave the orders. Thus, I made it for them,’’ Iamaea said.
Iamaea recently constructed three hollow block brick molders out of leftover materials from the workshop and auto parts that he gathered from the landfill. In August 2024, he finished building the three-hollow block brick molder during the first week of the month.
“Building it is quite costly. I therefore gather offcuts or search for scraps to reduce costs. Compared to the single hollow block brick molder, the three hollow block brick molders make work even easier. You can make between 800 and 1000 bricks every day. Thus, you could hit about 5,000 bricks in a week,’’ Iamaea said.
“The good thing about education is that I was fortunate to be an engineer. I therefore had to ensure that everything I gathered served the intended purpose for the output I produced. Since it only needs two or three workers, the three hollow block brick molder lowers labor costs,’’ claimed Iamaea.
If he has the necessary materials on hand, the father of two can easily make three hollow block brick molders in a week.
“Normally, I sell it SBD $15,000. But since we’re all struggling, I also feel sad for people. It might be the same suffering or struggle that I have experienced. Thus, on occasion, I urge my friends to cover the cost of the supplies, and I then make one for them,” he said.
In terms of single hollow block brick molders, Iamaea typically received orders from people in Honiara as far away as Malaita and the western province.
“To avoid losing out on these opportunities to foreigners or having to import goods from overseas, I intend to go into mass production, meeting demand, and maintaining standards are crucial for the locals,’’ he said.
With his creative ideas, which have become people’s trademark and impacted many lives, Innovative Iamaea has also assisted a great number of people.
“I just love doing it for our local Solomon Islanders, especially,” Iamaea, whose mother is from Makira, Tuvalu, and whose father is from Kara’ae, Malaita, said. “All the kindness you spread throughout the world will sometimes find a way to come back to you,” he said.
Iamaea’s path to his current position was not smooth, despite attending prestigious institutions like King George the VI, Woodford, and Chung Wah school.
“It was a difficult beginning for me, and the journey was too tough. Since my mother and father had separate lives, I was raised in two different homes. My aunt, who had married a Fijian taught at SICHE, looked after me. since I have no one to rely on, I have to learn everything I can,’’ recalled Iamaea.
“During that time, my uncle ran a workshop at Ranadi and taught engineering at the Solomon Islands College of Higher Education (SICHE). I therefore spent a lot of time in the workshop during those days, which is where my interest began. With the assistance of my older brothers, I became familiar with the tools at a very young age. Thus, that is how I got to where I am now,’’ he said.
