Sinasina- Yonggamugl’s first member of parliament and Senior Statesman Sir Kobale Kale expressed gratitude towards the Marape-Rosso Government for the their leadership and vision in making Papua New Guinea (PNG) the Black Richest Nation and to Take Back PNG, through the Agriculture Sector.
Sir Kobale was member for the district in the Simbu Province in the colonial House of Assembly from 1972 -1975; he is one of the last standing founding fathers of this nation who played a very vital role in the formation of the country’s independence.
When PNG gained Independence in 1975, Sir Kobale continued out the remainder of his term from 1975 through to 1977 as the first member for Sinasina- Yonggamugl after Independence in the National Parliament. Sir Kobale was also Minister for Education during his term in parliament.
He stated that despite the criticisms made by many Papua New Guineans on social media platforms in regards to the high cost of living being experienced today, they fail to see that the Marape-Rosso Government is the government that will revive and bring back stability in the economic development of this nation.
Sir Kobale highlighted that agriculture is the vehicle to drive the country’s economy forward at a time where the COVID Pandemic, Russo-Ukraine War and Climate Change are having so much impact on the economy and the livelihoods of the people of this nation.
“The agriculture sector has always been around since the ancestral time and even today it remains the main part of every life,” he said.
“I never thought that I would live to see different ministries being created by any government of the day until Marape-Rosso government.”
“The creation of the new ministries such as Ministry of Coffee, Ministry of Oil Palm, Ministry of Livestock and Ministry of Agriculture itself with the distribution of functions, is a milestone decision and achievement made to improve and recover the economy downfall, and the people of this nation need to realize this,” said Sir Kobale.
He said that this is so because according to the World Banks Report, March 4th 2022; Agricultural production continued to be constant during the pandemic despite falls in the gold and LNG production.
In that report Stefano Mocci, who is the World Bank Country Manager for PNG, stated that there is potential growth in the agriculture sector because it was not impacted much by the pandemic than the other sectors, which also reflected the additional government financial support to small –medium enterprise during the pandemic.
Sir Kobale also expressed great satisfaction that agriculture industry is given priority in this government and he urges all ministries to support local farmers and SME owners in the agriculture sector, so to see them expand with the aim of reaching the world export markets.