BY SAMIE WAIKORI
Auki
LANDOWNERS want investors to take the lead in the national palm oil project in Wairokai.
The call follows widespread scepticism on the current “out-grower scheme”.
A landowner told Island Sun Auki that there’s no expected outlook for the project without an investor.
He said the “out-grower scheme” forces landowners to work with less financial support from the government.
“The idea of out-grower is good as the project will share among individual landowners and become ownership of it. But our fear is whether this out-grower scheme will work for the project.
“Because it requires 100 percent workforce from the people without machineries and with uneven financial support. We did all we can with the work on the project, but we can’t do enough since the work is beyond what we can.
“This is our alarm and the reason we want investors to work with us for the good of this palm oil project,” the man said.
The landowner claims that the ‘outgrower scheme’ only serves as a fundraising drive for the government and middlemen.
He calls on the national government and the agriculture ministry (MAL) to revisit the arrangement on the project and work with landowners.
