North Fly District in Western Province has established an entity to drive its agribusiness development agenda in the district.
Local MP, James Donald, said North Fly Agro Limited would be the implementing entity that would push for the development of agriculture and related business activities in the district.
“I am pleased to announce on behalf of the board of North Fly District Development Authority (NFDDA) by presenting the Certificate of Incorporation from Investment Promotion Authority to the CEO and MD for North Fly Agro Limited, Nawani Devet.”
The presentation was held in Port Moresby last Friday, October 29. During the event, Mr Donald said North Fly Agro Limited is in capable hands of Mr Devet and General Manager, David Pepo.
He said the duo have credentials backed by their tertiary education qualifications, both having degrees in Agriculture from the University of Natural Resources and Environment.
Mr Donald said Mr Devet currently has a substantive position with Fly River Provincial Government as Food Security Officer, who will be formally resigning in the next couple of weeks.
The North Fly Agro Limited or NFAL is structured Agribusiness entity owned by 115 wards of North Fly electorate, owning free 10,000 shares each.
“It will be the vehicle driving Agribusiness pillar on behalf of NFDDA doing actual implementation and delivery of agricultural products to farmers and creating income for our people. It will be an entity that stands out of government influence purely delivering the agriculture policies.”
He said the creation of this entity is in line with Western Province Development Plan 2018 – 2022, which focuses on four key pillars - health, education, agribusiness and enabling infrastructures.
“North Fly Agro Limited will be the only entity which all the Government funding (for the district) will be channelled to drive all the commodities and it will be one stop shop,” Mr Donald said.
He said NFAL would be given initial annual budget support by the provincial government in its appropriations starting next year, 2022 and would continue supporting the entity for the next five years until it is fit to stand alone.
Mr Donald also presented a chiller vehicle and two 20ft chiller containers to NFAL to commence as the buying point for farmers in the district. The equipment are expected to arrive in Kiunga in the coming weeks.
The main markets secured include Ok Tedi Mining Ltd, Tabubil, Bige, LBL Catering, supermarkets, business houses and open markets in the district.
Meanwhile, similar arrangements would be done for education and health.
“For education we will have an entity called North Fly Education Foundation to fill the gap of actual implementation missing in the Education structure in our electorate, including students’ sponsorship programs and others. For Health we will revive the North Fly Health Service in partnership with the provincial health authority.”