Food to be shipped from Lae to Port Moresby, rest of PNG
MORE than a thousand containers loaded with food will be shipped from Lae to Port Moresby and other places in the country, says a senior government minister.
National Planning and Monitoring Minister Sam Basil said yesterday in Lae that all documentation had been completed and the first shipment of the food would be announced soon.
“Potatoes, bulb onions, kaukau (sweet potato), taro, cabbages and other vegetables will be packed into containers and shipped to Port Moresby and other provinces in the New Guinea Islands region as well,” Basil said.
He said farmers in the Highlands and Momase region could participate in the supply of food with road networks enabling to sell their crops or transport them to the main port.
Basil said trucking companies would be used in the exercise to help transport food from the Highlands and Momase region to Lae for shipment. For shipping companies, there would be a monthly trip to Manus to supply markets there, as well as to Northern out of Lae.
Basil said for provinces such as of Madang and East Sepik, operators would be identified to also collect vegetables to transport to Lae.
Basil also announced that State of Emergency (SOE) Controller and Police Commissioner David Manning had approved third level airlines to be engaged to bring in vegetables from the rural areas of the country. “This is an ongoing process and we will make sure to reach farmers from far and wide to get their produce available throughout the SOE period.”
Basil appealed to farmers to contribute food as this was an opportunity for them to make money.
He reminded retailers that when the food reached customers their prices would not include freight costs making them cheaper.
3 comments
Very good news for our local farmers from the rural areas of png but,it must be fruitfull rather than making empty promises to get attention from our very hard working farmers who tilt their land everyday and produce surplus but finds it hard sell to the customers,If that statement from Sam Basil is tru then it will encourage more people roaming around the urban centers doing nothing will go back to their villages for making garden because they know that the money will be right at their door.This may reduce the lawlessness and stop the criminal activities in the urban centers of png for all.where it become national issues today on media everyday..
The initiative is a positive step in providing markets to our rural farmers who no doubt will produce given the assurance that market is available and they get paid once their produce are picked up or delivered. This should not be a one off event but continue into the future so more people in rural areas will turn to farming and earn a income for them selves. This in turn will discourage urban drift and reduce crime in towns and cities as more people get involve in money making opportunities. The Government should learn from this COVID-19 pandemic and priorities agriculture so we do away with the importation of Asian junk food.
Am pretty sure if it would encourage and enable our rural farmers into the future it certainly will go along way and address some of our social and economic struggles our people our going through. And if it works well, will be very beneficial for the responsible Ministry or Department to arrange for abroad markets where food supplies are scarce. We do import a lot of the vegetables but not encouraging and providing avenues or markets to export. PNG does not necessarily need modern technology to produce the quantity as per the demand, our rural farmers collectively can be able to provide with some coordination and motivation from the responsible Departments.
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