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Well said, successive governments have run huge deficits every year, thanks to foreign aid and local funding from FNPF, the country has been able to progress through private sector investors. Like when building a house we need plans, Fiji lacks short, medium and long term SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC development plans. And like we need inspectors for progress, this country needs auditing it’s government expenditure from all departments to politicians. Fiji doesn’t need more money but better management of its resources. Corruption is driving the country into uncertainty as debt rises.

Good read. Warm regards. Ravi Joshi, Former Senior Adviser at Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, Solomon Islands.

Tom, many thanks for your comments. I agree that there is a need to test the domestic labour market. I have suggested in an earlier blog that a national campaign on the UK's Feed the Nation be set up to invite expressions of interest, requests to apply, offers of work and acceptances based on the jobseeker's clear understanding of what is involved. This understanding should include not only the nature of the work but also evidence that they have suitable accommodation and have a negative result from the COVID test just before they take up work.

Thanks for this informative and timely blog, and please continue to update us on prices and coverage of telephony in PNG. Access to digital technology for information is now more important than ever before. Many of my friends in PNG carry two phones, or sometimes one phone with two SIM cards. This is done to take advantage of lower prices offered by BMobile/Telikom where there is coverage and Digicel for regions not covered by Telicom. I am also told that the extensive antenna network that Digicel put up when it first entered the market gave the company a head-start that Telikom has not been able to match. Allowing access to the same antenna-infrastructure at competitive prices by both networks may increase competition and in the process deliver better coverage and prices for the population at large.

Interesting analysis.

Facts. I just left after 12 years. It's so corrupt it's just insane.

Awesome..

All very interesting Richard - the free-markets fan in me perhaps naively assumes that if we don't get the foreign labour to meet the summer picking needs, the market mechanism will kick in to deliver the most obvious alternative - i.e. domestic labour at a higher price. I guess the big question though is whether that price would be so high that it renders the entire exercise commercially non-viable. Having regard to the previous comment by Andrew Coldbeck - as well as my own experiences trying to hire staff for a part-time position over the past few months (as JobSeeker affects labour markets) - perhaps the answer, at least as it currently stands, it clearly yes. In which case I guess we need to one of: a) import labour and manage the risk, as you advocate; b) arrange sufficient government financial aid such that affected industries can obtain domestic labour at a reasonable effective price; or c) abandon at least a portion of the affected crops (which option can only be entertained if we are confident we will be able to access adequate alternatives for local consumption, and the government provides financial relief to "abandoning" crop owners)

Charter cities didn't fail. The ZEDE in Honduras is getting started right now in Roatan. Prospera.hn

Two real and very important facts that the author did not mention in her article are: How much of this important amount of money (17% of Peru's GDP!) - added to the very incredible amounts of the last international “loans” - was actually allocated to the fight against Covid-19 and its dramatic consequences? How much of that important amount of money... "ended in the pockets"... of incompetent, irresponsible, scoundrel, corrupt and criminal people? Most of them being part of their own “government” ! These are the two real and verifiable reasons for such an incredible and tremendous failure.

Apparently, the deadline for mobile phone SIM card registration has been extended, due to concerns about COVID-19 cases & deaths in Port Moresby: https://postcourier.com.pg/sim-card-registration-deadline-to-extend-says-manning/

As a scientist and researcher, my language and delivery methods were not suitable for communities I have worked with. Often times I had reflected on where I could have gone wrong, because my audience, although they seemed delighted to receive, rarely implemented! After receiving training in becoming a CDW using the PNG CDW National Standards, I have changed completely my approach, and have seen great results. I look forward to completing my training, and receiving a certificate that has more value than all others I have accumulated. In fact, I wish I received this training before I graduated from university. Thank you to those of you who have worked tirelessly to develop the PNG CDW National Standards. My heartfelt thank you. For me, this will bridge the gap for information and technology transfer that is suited to the needs of communities that they themselves have identified. Not me pushing them to change and develop. Debbie K Community educator/trainer I do hope other PNG government agencies, NGOs, CBOs, etc use the CDW National Standards in their staff development programs