By Francisca Anania
The Consultative Implementation & Monitoring Council (CIMC) is currently hosting a three-day National Development Forum at the APEC Haus from the 6 th -8 th November in Port Moresby. With the theme of ‘Measures to achieve the MTDP-4 Objectives for a better PNG’, the forum involved the Prime Minister James Marape, the Minister for National Planning & Monitoring, Directors, CEOs, Secretaries and Department heads of several prestigious organizations, both private and public.
Day two saw concerns raised to the Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Livestock Dr. Sergei Bang over his presentation on the department’s ‘Strategies to achieve sustainable agriculture development and rural opportunities’.
The Question and Answer (Q&A) part of the session saw many hands raised with different concerns and questioning the department’s budget planning and its lack of good management which has affected the agriculture industry from once thriving to less being done in recent years and up to date, in the provinces and the nation.
The Chief Justice of Papua New Guinea Sir Gibbs Salika said “There is a vast difference in the Agriculture and Livestock Department that has been thriving with various extension programs in the past which were successful such as coffee projects in the highlands, rubber in Western province, Tea and several others, and very few to none today.
There were many successful projects that DAL achieved in the rural areas of the country in my younger years. Unfortunately, I don’t see much these days, and it seems everything has gone back to zero.
I would like to know what your department is doing in terms of where the livelihood of the people matter most; their land and how to help them understand it’s importance and cultivate it in the best way possible to help sustain themselves, their communities and the nation.
” Several other participants raised similar concerns urging the department to have a good management team and allocate fair funding for all programs, trainings and projects, as it will benefit local communities and the country. Dr. Bang agreed that the department needed good management and having the right people on the grounds of projects on every level whether national, or provincial, or rural, to ensure the right thing is done.
He said “the concerns raised would be taken into consideration for the department’s upcoming planning and budgeting because I would like to see those extension programs that stopped brought back again.”
