Png’S Oil Palm Project-

Business

‘Biggest In The World!’

The world’s biggest oil palm project is to be established at Popondetta in Papua New Guinea’s Northern Province.

The agreement to develop the estate section of the K 35 million project was signed by the PNG Government and the Commonwealth Development Corporation in Port Moresby in Oc tober.

The CDC, a British statutory authority operating with funds drawn from the United Kingdom Treasury, is now involved in development pro jects in about 50 countries in the Pacific, Asia, Africa and the Carib bean.

The CDC will be corporate manager of the project.

The scheme involves the develop ment of a 4,000 ha nucleus estate by the CDC, and the settling of 1,400 smallholder families on 5,600 ha un der oil palm surrounding the estate.

The nucleus estate company will com mission a 60-tonne-per-hour factory to process the output of both its own estate and the smallholders.

The CDC investment is Kll million, while the smallholders’ pro ject is being financed by a K 9.1 million long-term, low-interest loan from the World Bank.

Each smallholder will be settled on a block allowing 4 ha to be planted to oil palm, and a further 2 ha for hous ing and gardening.

Estimated smallholder income a family is between K 1,200 and K 2,500 depending on world prices.

A company will be formed which will be responsible for the transport of smallholder fruit, selling in bulk to the factory and making payments to smallholders.

Selection of new settlers will be on a nation-wide basis, with preference given to applicants from the Northern Province.

Speaking at the October signing ceremony, PNG’s Minister for Primary Industry, Mr Boyamo Sali, denied that the launching of the new

oil palm project (to be known as the Higaturu project) had any connection with recent events at the Biala oil palm project in West New Britain Province, where the government has abrogated the agreement with Japanese companies and taken full control of the project.

He said he was confident that Biala would soon be operating again under new management.

Stressing the importance of in volving local people in the scheme, the Governor-General, Sir John Guise, said that first priority must be given to the Orokaiva people, who were the owners of the land set aside for the Higaturu project. He said there were two other language groups to be taken into account before the government could bring in families from other provinces to make up the balance.

The Prime Minister, Mr Michael Somare, said the new project was the

largest development scheme under taken in PNG since the Bougainville copper project.

About 11,000 people would be directly involved, while thousands more would benefit from its spin-off effects, bringing prosperity to Northern Province, whose economy had recently been depressed.

He said PNG expected to earn about KlO million annually in foreign exchange when the scheme is fully operative in about five years’ time.

The Minister for Finance, Mr Julius Chan, said the World Bank loan for the smallholder scheme was highly significant, because it was the first loan made by the Bank to PNG without an Australian Government guarantee.

He said the new loan set the seal on the bank’s favourable assessment of PNG’s creditworthiness.