Government accused of lack of support

 By MALUM NALU

THE Government has been blamed for the poor state of transport and warehouse facilities for vegetable farmers.

Fresh Produce Development Agency chief executive officer Mark Worinu told The National it was further compounded by the fact that airlines did not provide special freight rates for farmers.

“The transport system is one key area that has been overlooked,” Worinu said.

“There is no dedicated transport system to transport produce which results (in) post-harvest losses and late arrival of produce at the markets. 

“Farmers and small traders use public transport to transport their produce from the farm gate to the market.

“Key market infrastructure such as wholesale depots, cold storage facilitates and warehouses have not been built by the Government. FPDA has been promoting the idea of establishing these key facilities to improve the supply chain.

“FPDA has built one in Kainantu which is being used by Wau landowner company NKW Ltd. It is looking at building some more in Lae and Port Moresby.”

He said the length of time it took for farmers to get their produce to market depended very much on the distance and type of transport being used.