Better laws eyed to help drive change

AGRICULTURE and Livestock Minister Benny Allan says various Acts and legislations that govern commodity boards need to be reviewed to ensure professional and qualified people are appointed to drive change in the primary industries.
Allan said this in a media conference in Port Moresby yesterday after meeting with managing directors, chief executives and senior management of agro agencies.
Allan said the government was giving priority to the agriculture sector and was allocating more resources to support the sector and to drive it forward as anticipated. It is the implementing agencies that will make it happen.
“One of those key implementing agencies of the state in the agriculture sector are the commodity boards,” he said. “They are the ones who will drive change in each of our country’s commodities like coffee, cocoa, copra, cacao, rubber, vanilla and others.
“But one of the problems we have is that some of these boards are either non-existent or are not functioning effectively and efficiently.”
Allan said some of the commodity boards had full members while some had interim members. “We make farmers who are executives of associations of the commodities to become executives and not appointing people who had the competency, the skills and the qualifications and expertise to drive change in the different commodities that we have.”