Bad road is bad for rubber

Business, Main Stories
Source:

By PATRICK TALU

A SMALL rubber project in the Sogeri plateau, Central, is on the brink of collapse due to bad road condition along the Sogeri-Doe road.
Alvery Resources Ltd (ARL), which operates 22 plantations and 11 small-holder blocks in the area, fears that it might shut its operations due to the bad road condition.
This means the 22 plantation owners and 11 smallholder farmers, who earn up to K800, 000 yearly from the sale of raw rubber could lose their livelihood.
Company director Mana Viai told The National yesterday in Sogeri: “The company has come to a point where it no longer wants to pursue its operations as it continues to lose thousands of kina on road maintenance and equipment damage alone due to bad road condition.
Viai said the 22 plantations and 11 small block holders were part of the 250 plantations in the Sogeri plateau, of which most have been abandoned
He said ARL produced about 30 tonnes of raw rubber a month and an average 360 tonnes a year.
Viai said ARL exports rubber to Malaysia and generating huge revenue for the growers.
A senior officer of ARL who did not want to be identified said at the current price of K2 per kilogramme, the growers were looking at over K700,000 to K800,000 in income from their crop.
Viai said despite the difficult road condition, the company had been actively buying raw rubber from plantations and small holders.