Ministry wants sugar industry to thrive
Bangladesh labourers to address shortage Please give ‘idle land’ back — Singh
LABOURERS would be brought from Bangladesh to address the issue of labour shortage in Fiji.
Sugar Minister Charan Jeath Singh said this in an interview, following a recent sugar consultation in Lautoka.
“The issue is a global one and not only a problem here in Fiji,” he said.
Mr Singh said they were making efforts to mechanise the sugar industry in order to reduce the issue of labour shortage.
“I must also say that we are looking at bringing labourers from Bangladesh and the advantage with that is after they harvest your cane field, the next grower can also use them to harvest came.”
Mr Singh said he was also bringing about 11 labourers from Bangladesh to harvest cane in his farm.
“The good part is that the Immigration Department normally charges a $3000 bond per worker, however, in this instance, where the labourers are coming to work on the farm, this bond will be exempted.”
He said visits to farmers in cane belt areas in the past year had shown positive responses.
“For the last year, I have been moving around the country, meeting with farmers and sharing our vision and the Coalition Government’s vision which they are seeing now.
“Our farmers were neglected before and we are trying to give them all sorts of assistance.”
SUGAR Minister Charan Jeath Singh has requested landowners to give their “idle land” if they are not farming it.
He said this during a recent consultation with farmers in Lautoka.
“To the landowners, if you are not using your farm, please give it back to those who are interested in doing sugarcane farming,” said Mr Singh.
These idle land, he said, could be used by cane farmers to increase the overall production and “bring back the sugar industry to thriving again and with hope”.
“If the farmers are finding it difficult to pay for the leases, the government has some programs, where we will pay the premium and the leases as well, on behalf of the farmers.
“If we are giving that kind of help, then I am pretty sure it would be a great help.”
He said 13 different programs to assist farmers were being implemented with the $50million
nutrition security for its population,” Cabinet said in a statement.
“Historically, agricultural crop research and animal research were initiated by the ministry to develop technologies to assist farmers who lack resources to conduct research to improve their productivity.”
In a statement, it said in a small island and developing agriculture sector such as Fiji, in comparison with bigger countries, it was economically and technically beneficial to merge research efforts for both crops and livestock and administer these under ARDIF.
A task force will be formed within the ministry to undertake the feasibility study and will consult appropriate agencies on the way forward.
The outcome of the feasibility study will be tabled in Cabinet once completed.