Importers of vegetables have already placed orders to meet customers’ demands after the ban was partially lifted by Agriculture Minister Tommy Tomscoll last week.
Bulb onions, tomatoes and capsicums were three vegetables that were allowed to be imported after the ban was lifted by Tomscoll due to an acute shortage in all major supermarkets and markets in major centers.
Imported vegetables still covered by the August ban are potato (Irish), cabbage, carrot, pumpkin, peas, zucchini, eggplant, pachchoi/Chinese cabbage, French bean, lettuce and celery.
Port Moresby Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive officer David Conn said he expected the supply of onions, tomatoes and capsicums to return to normal this week.
“I would imagine very quickly, orders were probably being placed as the Minister was reading his statement.
“Private sector does not hang about. I even saw onions in Alotau last week when there were none in Port Moresby so they were clearly ahead of the game.”
The head of the business community in Port Moresby also challenged the National Government to have public consultation before making future decisions.
“The takeaway message from this fiasco for government should be, even if you think it is a good idea, and the vested interests are pushing very hard, proper consultation still needs to be done before such decisions are taken,” Conn said.
“Nobody flagged the idea in the public domain for general comment. Nobody talked to the farmers in drought stricken areas if they would be able to take up the shortfall.
“Nobody talked to the supermarkets to find out if they reckoned there was local capacity to take up the slack.”
The ban of the vegetables saw onions which cost K1 for one at markets in Port Moresby going as high as K10.
Picture source: Paul Tumun