Board wants to review Act

By PETER ESILA
PAPUA New Guinea Spice Industry Board (PNGSIB) chief executive officer Dr Nelson Simbiken says there is room for corruption in the industry and wants a review of the PNG Spice Industry Act of 1989.
He said the objective of the board over the next two years would be to review the Act and set up an authority.
“The spice industry board currently has to become an authority, so it can generate money for the government. Instead of depending on the government, we can look after ourselves,” he said.
“We live or die by the review of the establishment of the Act itself, it must be reviewed.”
He said this following the arrest of two PNGSIB officers and a Department of Agriculture and Livestock (DAL) officer in Port Moresby recently for alleged fraud.
Simbiken said the spice industry board had been operating since 1989 but due to a lack of funding in early 2000s, it had been brought under DAL to ensure it was able to operate.
“Whatever little money DAL gets, it supports the spice industry board as a programme because we’re not getting sufficient support from the government in terms of goods and services, personnel emoluments and others.”
Simbiken said the programme had been supported by DAL at the national level since 2003.
He said all funding that came into the statutory body went to the department and then transferred into the business operating account.
“Although we have an Act, it is an outdated one, market trends have changed,” he said.
“Vanilla is now the country’s leading spice product.
“Since 2018, PNG has been exporting 400 metric tonnes of vanilla annually and it is bringing in over K300 million each year,” Simbiken said.
“It is comparable to cocoa, coffee and copra, so vanilla is a major industry in the country now.”
He said all the provinces in the country except for Enga, Hela, Southern Highlands were planting vanilla.