by Jack Lapauve Jr – EM TV News, Port Moresby
New Ireland Governor, Sir Julius Chan, says the agriculture industry lost its way, because of the growing extractive industry in Papua New Guinea.
He says the government is giving too much prominence to the development of mining activities in the country.
Governor Chan wants Papua New Guinea to centre its economy on cash crops that have raised and sustained the country’s economy.
The former prime minister says the government must consider this, before all mining activities cease, leaving PNG empty handed.
“We must support the agriculture industry which has kept Papua New Guinea’s economy stable in the past years,” Sir Julius said.
Today Opposition leader, Don Polye, said the extractive industry has pushed PNG’s economy forward but the economic downfall has crippled the agriculture sector.
“The current economic blow-out has made agricultural exports suffer with less buying power in the region at the world market,” Polye said.
The Opposition leader says, PNG’s agricultural sector is delicate and be considered as a key sector to PNG’s economy.
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