Mine sites urged to prioritise local produce

BUSINESSES and mining companies in Morobe have been encouraged to source fruits and vegetables locally within districts before looking elsewhere.
Farmer and Settlers Incorporate president Wilson Thompson said yesterday that Morobe houses mine sites and companies that require fresh produce but they tend to source the products elsewhere.
“Morobe has mines such as Hidden Valley and Wafi-Golpu that needs fruits and vegetables supplies such as avocadoes or oranges for its workers,” said Thompson.
He said that instead of getting this produce from other provinces or through imports, districts such as Bulolo are capable of producing the fruits and vegetables.
“We should be encouraging our local people to supply mines with fresh vegetable and fruits such as oranges or even fresh honey and not just our regular local produce as we have expatriates as well,” said Thomson.
“We have all these talks about exporting our fresh produce, but we must look at it on a local level by providing markets for our districts and provinces first.
“If we’re not supplying locally, how are we going to supply other countries, let’s talk about small tings first before talking about big things,” said Thompson.
He said the current conversation on down-stream processing in agriculture and exporting products is all very well but action has to be taken at the local level first.
Thomson added Morobe has the potential of producing and supplying fruits or vegetables but needs dedicated markets for them.
Farmers and Settlers Association Incorporate comprises fresh produce farmers in Eastern Highlands.