Leaders of Central Province and NCD are working on an initiative that will ensure residents have access to nutritious, garden food.
Prime Minister James Marape revealed that his Government is working with the governors of Central and NCD, as well as their respective members of parliament, to ensure residents have access to fresh produce.
With COVID-19 restrictions being put in place, access to fresh garden food, especially for city residents, has proven to be quite a challenge.
Marape said as a response to this, they will buy food from Central Province and store them in a warehouse inside the city.
“And for those who are struggling in our settlements in Port Moresby or in the urban areas in Port Moresby who don’t have jobs because of restriction of movement and slowdown in public market places and they are at home and their cupboards may be running out of food, instead of buying rice from the store, we’re trying to buy food from Central Province,” stated the PM.
“The provincial farmers out there, if they grow a little bit more food in their gardens, our districts in Central Province as well as the provincial government is organising a food pickup process; possibly we’ll start next week Sunday and next week onwards.
“These are some small initiatives that are taking place at a localised level. The honourable John Rosso and leaders in Morobe are also trying to do likewise in our second (largest) city in Lae to ensure that local food are being brought in to supplement those who are settling in places.”
Since the first confirmed case in PNG, the Government has been stressing on eating and living healthy as a way of strengthening our immune system. This is based on the fact that a strong immune system would be able to defend you against disease-causing microorganisms.