Oil palm project to plant million seedlings

 THE multi-million-kina Turubu oil palm project in East Sepik will recruit more than 1,500 workers to start work at its nursery site next month.

Turubu landowner company chairman Aron Malijiwi said the recruitment, which will be the first for the company, would involve people from the 56 integrated land groups (ILGs) of the resource area.

He said they would give first preference to the landowners.

However, people from within and outside the province would also benefit in job opportunities created by the company.

Work at the nursery site at Samawia started in October last year with 11 workers, and the company would recruit more this year. 

Malijiwi said the company would plant one million seedlings in the first 10,000ha of land that had been cleared.

He said more than 150,000 seedlings were at the nursery shed. 

Malijiwi said the company was getting 10,000 seedlings per fortnight from Dami Research in West New Britain. 

The landowner company, Limawo Holdings Ltd, is partnering with Wewak Agriculture Development Ltd to develop the project.