Small rubber farmers need freight aid

Normal, Sports
Source:

The National, Thursday 02nd August, 2012

By GYNNIE KERO
MOST smallholder growers across Papua New Guinea will suffer if no freight subsidy is provided, according to Warren Dutton, chairman of North Fly Rubber Ltd (NFRL).
He said at a recent meeting to promote national policy on freight subsidies that 85 % of the population lived in remote areas and would suffer if there were no freight subsidy support.
Freight subsidies help growers in remote areas transport their produce to market in urban centres.
“Bulk of agriculture industry is located in rural areas and lack of freight subsidy would kill these growers,” Dutton said.
“We have to motivate people … make it worthwhile for them to grow and sell their crops.”
Dutton said because freight subsidies existed in Western province, North Fly Rubber Ltd had more than 3,000 rubber producer-shareholders.
“Western province’s smallholder industry is the only successful rubber industry in the country because of freight subsidies,” he said.
In 1988, Ok Tedi Development Foundation and North Fly Rubber signed a development deal, which was to continue until the closure of the Ok Tedi mine.
The deal included two separate freight subsidies, which encouraged more rubber growers.
OTML provided fuel for shipment and cartage of containers of processed rubber from the factory in Kiunga for export to customers throughout the world.
He said NFRL provided rubber buying and collection services for more than 3,000 farmers in Kiunga, Balimo, Suki, Oriomo- Bituri and Lake Murray districts of the Western province.