RIC lauds MPs for funding agro devt

THE Rural Industries Council (RIC) has applauded Members of Parliament for allocating district services improvement programme (DSIP) funds towards developing agriculture in the country.
RIC chairman Brown Bai said agriculture remained the backbone of the Papua New Guinea’s economy.
 “People in the villages have been waiting for a very long time for support and delivery of services and what members of parliament are doing to support agriculture is addressing the very need of the country’s rural communities,” he said.
Mr Bai said agriculture continued to provide the main source of livelihood to about 80% of the country’s population and deserved to receive priority funding.
He said the Government’s national agriculture development plan (NADP) was initiated to provide direction and support for the agriculture industry after years of neglect.
However, the use and management of the K100 million NADP funding had raised issues of controversy, again leaving the industry to suffer, Mr Bai said.