By LOSIRENE CHAND
The Fiji Sugar Corporation says it will reply to the calls of National Farmers Union member sugarcane farmers in the Northern Division in due course.
This comes after they wrote a letter of petition to Government for compensation for Standover Cane for 2013.
Corporation executive chairman Abdul Khan reassured: “I’m aware a letter has been sent to the PM and we will comment in due course and reply accordingly”.
The National Farmers Union is the cane farmers’ body linked to the Fiji Labour Party and its leader, Mahendra Chaudhry.
President Surendra Lal said that they are concerned that what he said was at least 20,000 tonnes of cane have not been harvested.
This, he said, was in part due to what Mr Lal called the collapse of Fiji Sugar Corporation’s rail transport system.
It was also due to poor condition of cane access roads in the North, he alleged.
Mr Lal said that the union had raised this issue with the Fiji Sugar Corporation in a letter dated September 9. But he said no action had been taken as yet by the authorities.
“FSC should shoulder the blame for not harvesting all standing cane for the 2013 season on time,” he said.
Mr Lal said the late start of crushing at Labasa Mill on June 27 was not because of the delayed maturity of cane.
It was because the corporation was not able to repair the loading facility at Malau damaged in 2012 and growers lost a month of prime harvesting time, he alleged.
He added that growers were seeking compensation at $40 per tonne for all standover cane for last season.
Costs
Mr Lal said in the case of the standover cane for the 2013 season, growers had been exposed to severe fi nancial pressures as they had to pay lease fees and other things.
“High costs were incurred on farm inputs such as fertiliser and the hiring of labour costs to cultivate the cane. All this money is wasted now that their cane has not been harvested.”
A view of the now quiet and not-so-busy Labasa Sugar Mill in the Norh. Photo: LOSIRENE CHAND