The Member for Telefomin and current Minister of Defence Hon. Solan Mirisim says the forestry sector has more to contribute to the positive development of Papua New Guinea but needs support in its areas of need in order for it to deliver.
Mr. Mirisim said this when officially handing over the Forest ministerial portfolio to the Member for Namatanai Hon. Walter Schnaubelt on January 12th,
2021 at Papua New Guinea Forest Authority (PNGFA) headquarters in Port Moresby.
The out-going Minister Mirisim said: “Forestry is an integral part of the economic sector of this nation and it was an honor to be part of the decision-making process to promote the country’s renewable timber resources.”
“I am leaving this ministry with milestone achievements through the National Executive Council (NEC) submissions of the government’s development agenda in the Forestry sector which are the National Strategies for Downstream Processing and National Strategies for Reforestation and Afforestation in PNG, Timber Legality Standard and the updated and revised Logging Code of Practice.
“The Forest sector has contributed and continues to contribute significantly to the economy of the country and moving forward into 2021, more opportunities lie with the promotion of a state marketing agency.
“With the reality of having to increase the State Purchase Option (SPO) and exempting tax, the forest sector can contribute K500 to K600 million annually to the government,” said Minister Mirisim.
He added that the effect on the world market price by the coronavirus pandemic and the increasing of log export tax has affected more than 80% of the forest industry which also had impacts on employment and rural development in PNG.
Hon. Mirisim further added that; “PNGFA is a vibrant organization with the new Corporate Plan 2020 – 2030 ready to be launched with an approved restructure by the Salaries Conditions Monitoring Committee (SCMC) and Department of Personnel Management. A new proposed office building is ready for feasibility study and scoping with state of the art facilities.
The outgoing minister said that he has confidence in Minister Schnaubelt’s leadership to deliver from where he left.