More help for cane farmers, says A-G
The Attorney-General and Minister for Economy Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum yesterday assured more help for sugarcane farmers and Government commitment to an industry he said was too often politicised. Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said this while handing over the partially Government-funded mechanical harvester to the Qawa Cane Farmers Co-operative at Vunivau, Labasa, yesterday. Government pitched in $90,000 while the cooperative contributed the remainder.
Also yesterday, he handed over another mechanical harvester, of the same value, to Vunivere Cane Farmers Cooperative in Seaqaqa. Mr Sayed-Khaiyum told the farmers in Vunivau that by month end, there would be 41 mechanical harvesters around the country and 60 harvesters by the end of this year. He added that as part of Government’s assistance to the Fiji Sugar Corporation (FSC), 200 brand new trucks would be bought to cart cane.
Some of them will be here by year end while the remainder will come next year, he said. “We know that there are many areas where cane carting is an issue.
He added: “We are here to assist you.” “We are working with land owners, the Department of Lands and iTaukei Land Trust Board (TLTB), to be able to issue leases up to 99 years.”
Moreover, he said, everyone needs to understand that in order to address cane industry issues “we need to address it from a commercial and farmers’ perspective, not from a political perspective.”
“The sugar industry is still heavily politicised. We need to move away from that. We need to take a different approach. We need to find solutions in a non-political manner.”
Qawa Cane Farmers Co-operative president Brij Bhusan thanked Mr Sayed-Khaiyum for availing himself to present the handing over of the harvester.
“We did have a harvester a few years back but it was malfunctioning for over a year and farmers had to travel long distance to get labourers which was very hard. “Now all this struggles have been put to rest thanks to the Bainimarama Government.” Vunivere Cane Farmers Cooperative president Jwahar Lal said there were 27 members in the cooperative. They thanked Government for assisting them.
“We are so happy and excited not only because we received a harvester but had Mr Sayed-Khaiyum sit down with us for a talanoa session,” Mr Lal said.
“I have been living in Vunivere area for 50 years and this is the first time for me to have a minister pay us a visit.”