AUSTRALIA: Government hires ten-man squad to destroy feral bananas

A special team of ten men has been hired by the Queensland Government to find and destroy any feral bananas in the north of the state. The action has been initiated in a bid to eradicate the damaging black sigatoka disease, which has been detected on 15 farms since 4 April this year. Queensland Primary Industries Minister, Henry Palaszczuk, added that the government would also contribute financial help to an emergency programme to contain and wipe out the disease. This plan, costing an estimated A$17.8m, will run for one year.