Miner hails programme

THE Wafi-Golpu joint venture has thanked the Government for introducing the cocoa price support programme in Morobe.
Head of external affairs sustainability and development David Wissink attended the launching of the programme at Munum village, Wampar LLG, Huon Gulf, recently.
The mining company has been involved in the development of the cocoa industry in Morobe since 2010, especially with the lower Watut farmers’ cooperative society.
The programme involves the development of nurseries for high-yielding cocoa varieties to be distributed to farmers, crop husbandry training, cocoa bean fermenting and drying training, quality control training and marketing assistance.
The programme supplied farmers eight driers on a cost-sharing basis.
Cocoa farmers in the project area won cocoa quality awards in 2015 at the Salon du Chocolat in Paris, putting Watut cocoa as among the best in the world.