Tribunal: No request for extension received

THE Sugar Industry Tribunal says it did not receive requests from Vanua Levu farmers to extend the harvesting and crushing season by one week.

The tribunal earlier announced that the crushing at the Labasa sugar mill would end on November

28. Farmers claimed they had asked the tribunal to give them an extra week to allow them to completely harvest all their cane.

However, Registrar of the Tribunal Timothy Brown said they did not receive any requests for an extension.

“We have not received any request from growers for extension,” he said.

“The growers should make their request to the (Sugar Cane Growers) Council which will then be conveyed to me and FSC.”

Farmers in Wainikoro, Daku and Lagalaga areas in Macuata said they were worried about unharvested cane and transport issues that delayed their supply.

Sardar and gang leader Akisi Vinaka said two farmers in Lagalaga

area were yet to harvest their crop.

“There are other farmers who face similar situations and it’s due to the continuous wet weather we’ve had over the past month,” she said.

“Transport issues are another problem we faced during this season so it will only be fair if the tribunal give us another week so we can harvest more cane.

“During the rainy days, trucks could not access farms to load the harvested cane so that was another delay for many of us.”

National Farmers Union president Surendra Lal said cane farmers should be compensated for standover (unharvested) cane because the issues they faced were beyond farmers’ control.