About four hundred sugar cane farmers from Labasa were present at Waiqele Secondary School last night for the cane farmers meeting with Minister for Economy Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, FSC’s CEO Graham Clark and FSC’s Chief Operating Officer Navin Chandra.
Sayed-Khaiyum says the government is working with FSC to increase sugar production in the country.
He says it is a fact that cane planting and sugar production started going down after the ALTA leases were not renewed from 1997.
Sayed-Khaiyum says this resulted in a lot of Labasa families moving to the Suva-Nausori corridor.
Meanwhile a farmer Akisi Vinika from Wainikoro Sector raised three issues with the Minister for Economy during the farmers meeting.
Vinika says 50 percent of the farmers from Wainikoro do not have electricity.
She says over the last ten years, they always see the FEA posts but no electricity is provided to them.
Sayed-Khaiyum says he will look into this issue.
She also raised the issue that the cost of living is very high and she wants $100 per tonne cane payment.
The Minister for Economy says the government has done the top up in previous years.
He says he will talk to FSC but he also stresses that the world market price for sugar always changes.
Sayed-Khaiyum says they are working with other countries to have stable prices.
Vinika also said that there is a shortage of quarters in the Wainikoro sector.
She says the team leader has to travel from Labasa every day.
Sayed-Khaiyum says that he will look into this issue.
We will have more later today.
