Transcript
KIRIAU TUREPU: The problem is while these fruit trees are being treated overseas, chemical treatment, but I suspect you know that the eggs that were on these fruit trees were still on.
DON WISEMAN: These are avocado trees that have come from New Zealand?
KT: Not only New Zealand. We did bring in some trees from Australia also.
DW: They have been brought in by the Ministry of Agriculture or have they been brought in by individuals?
KT: Some are brought in by the Ministry and some are brought in by the individuals because we do allow individuals to get a permit and there are certain steps that they have to follow for treatment.
DW: It is some time isn't it. It is a number of years ago. How certain are you that it is tree borer that has come in from Australia or New Zealand?
KT: Well the thing is I only realised about this problem about two weeks ago. Our biggest problem here is that we never had a post quarantine facility here to quarantine fruit trees or even flowers brought in from overseas via private people or even by the ministry.
DW: Is that going to change now. Are you going to ensure that that happens?
KT: Yes definitely. I just had my officials in the office this afternoon. I told them to ensure that this is a priority - the post quarantine facility. It is of high priority and I would like to take this issue into Cabinet and mention the need for us to put up a post quarantine facility as soon as possible.
DW: So the tree borer, it is affecting the avocado trees, but it is affecting more isn't it?
KT: Yes it is not only a tree borer. On mangoes we also notice that there is a lot of rot near the seeds of the mangoes, even when they are ripe. When you cut them the outside is quite OK but the inside has been damaged.
DW: How big a threat is this tree borer to the Cook Islands?
KT: I really don't know at the present, I really don't know how far it is going to go, but the thing is for me if we are going to protect our fruits then we need to put in a post quarantine facility in order to address this issue, and at the same time hopefully we can use some kind of a spray to curb this problem.
DW: It is not going to be a matter of ripping the trees out?
KT: No I don't think that is a viable option. No we are not going to do that. There is no way you can cut the trees down and not let them bear and all that. I think one of the most important things is that we need to spray the trees, we need to manage it properly. But the thing is we have discussed this issue and I have put the post quarantine facility as a very high priority in our agricultural projects.
