Party to focus on farming

National

By SAMUEL BARIASI
YANGORU-SAUSSIA MP Richard Maru says his People First Party wants Papua New Guinea to be economically independent in 10 years.
Maru said his party’s top priority was investing in agriculture and limiting food imports.
“People First Party cannot accept the current state of the economy,” he said. “We must stop importing what we don’t need to import.”
Maru said the country could build two more dairy farms and stop the importation of K400 million worth of dairy imports.
“It costs K120 million to build a dairy farm,” he said. “This needs the Government to take leadership; we must put the money first and then ask the private sector to join us.
“We must take the risk. It’s not hard, it’s very simple. Everybody wants to invest in government bonds; they want to invest where there is no risk. Why can’t we invest in agriculture?
“Why should we continue to import K800 million worth of rice when we have the land to grow it?
“The nation of Israel is less than the size of Angoram in East Sepik; they don’t have the land the Sepik Plain has, but they export more food to the world than Papua New Guinea.
“Israel, a desert country, is exporting about five times the amount of food PNG is exporting in a year.
“We need strong and decisive leadership.”