Settlers strive for better life

Weekender
AGRICULTURE
A Hargy Oil Palms Ltd pickup truck doing its rounds in Malasi, near Bialla town on Sunday.

By PETER ESILA
OIL palm is the only means of income to address the daily needs, health obligations and wellbeing of farmer Steven Topiam.
Steven, like other 20,049 households in the country survive on the crop.
Steven from Bali-Vitu Islands and his wife Kekele, a local from Malasi, near Bialla, Talasea district, West New Britain, says the Government must ensure famers get the best price from oil palm.
They have only one-hectare block. He has been farming the block for nearly five years after buying it for K1,500 from the previous owner.
A daily chore for him, Steven says his job is to clean the block every day, while his wife takes care of the home and his two daughters Stacey, three and one-year-old Helly.
Every week while he uses the oil palm pole sickle to harvest the fruits, his wife Kekele collects the loose fruits.
He agrees that working in the blocks is hard work, and laborious.
Steven says he wants to give a better life and education to his children.
On many of these smallholder blocks, there are two or three families who share the earnings among themselves. Steven’s final share every fortnight is around K300 to K400.
Minding his business on Sunday at his Malasi block, Steven and his family were approached by the Oil Palm Industry Corporation (Opic) acting general secretary Kepson Pupita, who assured him and the other smallholders that Opic was working towards ensuring that the famers benefit more from the crop.
Unless industry legislation changes, Opic merely remains merely as an extension service provider, to promote and encourage increased productivity of palm oil through efficient extension services to smallholder farmers, pests and disease management; compiling relevant data and collaborate with government and industry agencies including growers and the private sector.
According to Opic, about 20,049 households are engaged in oil palm cultivation to generate incomes, which supplement and sustain their subsistence livelihoods. Milling companies such as NBPOL and Hargy also provide formal employment to hundreds of PNG people.

Silanga local, Rose Taua (blue umbrella) and her community are thankful to Opic for the road link to the main highway and markets.

The smallholder farmers engaged in oil palm cultivation generate on average K450 million each year in fresh fruit bunches (FFB).
Opic has project offices in Bialla and Hoskins (WNB, Kavieng (New Ireland), Popondetta (Northern) and Alotau (Milne Bay).
Pupita said Opic was also working on building more access roads to blocks that currently have no access for company pick up.
At a stop over along the New Britain Highway, he visited a road built by Opic to assist farmers.
He visited the Kae area of Talasea on Sunday and said Opic would build an access road and culvert with close to K1 million.
The culvert will enable access to about 50 hectares of smallholder blocks.
He said the four-kilometre road including the diverting of a small river would make a big difference for farmers by enabling them to easily transport their oil palm to the main pick-up point.
Pupita commended the contractor for the work it had done so far on swamp land which had required more work to ensure the road was sound. He added that the project would cost more than K800,000 and close to a million kina.
He said the money spent by Opic was worth it as the 20 blocks comprising of around 50 hectares would
yield an average of K423,000 annually for the farmers.
“Our job is to increase production and have road access for picking up crop,” Pupita said.
“Take back PNG means go back to where the farmers are, where the rural population is, where the problems are and this is one of the problems that we have found out, and we are rectifying.
At a next stop-over alone the Highway at Silanga, he showed how Opic had built a culvert that had withstood the elements.
“This one I built it in 2019, there was no wet crossing too, vehicles could not go through, people went right around to go to the main road.
“There was nothing here.
“The road was already opened up, a first culvert got washed out again so I told the contractors to rebuilt it the second time.”
He said he made sure contractors were doing a proper job.

Opic acting general secretary Kepson Pupita showing a culvert at Silanga, Talasea district, on Sunday.

“I am the chairman of the selection process and I make sure we give the work to credible contractors because it also falls back on my reputation and what I am doing as the CEO of the organisation, but Works Department does the scoping, the procurement, recommendation of the three contractors to me, I am the one that does the final selection of the three after rigorous vetting at my level.
“This road at Silanga was cut off; this road goes to the community, so it is not necessarily an oil palm road but it is a provincial government road that I have done including the bridge.
“For Opic, I do not sit in Port Moresby.I am here full time,” Pupita says.