Support for vegetable ban

 THE ban on vegetable imports by Agriculture Minister Tommy Tomscoll is a wake-up call for farmers to make use of the opportunity, a farmer says.

Robert Mek from Western Highlands said that the ban was what many have been waiting for years and its imposition showed that the Government was really fighting for local farmers.

He said the ban would be an opportunity for local farmers to produce vegetables and make money depending on their harvests.

Mek said he has been in the business for 15 years and learnt that farming was a sleeping giant that can generate millions of kina.

“For years I had never heard of a minister taking a bold stand. Tomscoll is the first person to fight for the farmers,” he said.

“The bottom line of every policy and decision passed is that people are the ones to suffer or benefit.”

He said the public and the hard working farmers needed to support the ban because that was the way forward.

“This move has woken up the sleeping giant (farming) from the deep sleep,” he said.