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Business |
Scrap levy on coffee, growers demand
By JAMES APA GUMUNO
THE PNG Block Holders Association is
calling on the Government to scrap the K0.10 being collected from
their coffee sales.
Tony Kubul Wii, deputy chairman of the PNG Block Holders, said it
was unfair for the Government to exclude coffee from commodities
getting funding assistance.
“The Government is stealing from the poor growers by collecting
K0.10 levy for every kilo,” he said.
“It’s almost 10 years and the Government has failed to fund the
Coffee Industry Corporation (CIC) to support the work of the
coffee research and extension services.”
He said stakeholders were concerned about services that are not
reaching them through the CIC, while the “growers demand drive”
concept that was instituted by the CIC to achieve the basic
service is not meeting the aspirations of the stakeholders.
“The current Government’s Green Revolution plans and objectives
for the agriculture sector hasn’t worked out well with funds
already exhausted while growers still have coffee bags to be
airlifted from the remote areas of the country,” Mr Wii said.
He said CIC’s internal revenue collection of less than K6.5
million was insufficient to meet an estimated yearly expenditure
budget of K8 million to meet the industry’s needs.
Mr Wii said before 1997, when the Government funded the CIC
operations, the plantations and block sector in the country were
viable and vibrant while smallholders expanded in numbers.
“But now the plantations and block sector, which are responsible
for producing quality coffee, are ‘declining very quickly’,” he
said.
Mr Wii said the wet and dry coffee processing plants were not
meeting international standards.
 
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