Divide coffee, cocoa plantations to boost production: Simon

AGRICULTURE and Livestock Minister John Simon says coffee and cocoa plantations in the country should be subdivided and given back to landowners to operate.
Simon said this when responding to questions from Pomio MP Elias Kapavore about enabling landowners to own blocks and produce coffee and cocoa.
He said production had dropped because there was currently not enough labourers working on plantations around the country.
“In the past we had plantations and plantation employed labourers,” Simon said.
“Now most of the plantations are shut down because you cannot get labourers anymore.
“No one wants to be a labourer, no one wants to work in a plantation and be called a labourer.
“I have been encouraging big landowner groups, we should get together and subdivide the plantations that we have so that they can take ownership of little coffee blocks.
“This is so people can take ownership and go in and start producing coffee and producing cocoa.
“Production is starting to drop because there is not enough labourers in those plantations, they are shutting down.
“Some of the big plantations are owned by corporate entities and I have been talking to them.
“You should look at subdividing the plantations and giving it to those who have been labourers for so many years so that they own them.
“Once they own them, we will transform those plantations and big blocks and we can see production back on.”