The European Union Ambassador to Fiji and the Pacific, Andrew Jacobs and Australian High Commissioner to Fiji Margaret Twomey handed over equipment valued at approximately $330,000 to the Fiji Sugar Corporation on behalf of the Training Support to the Fijian Sugarcane Industry project, marking the completion of the four‑year project.
The assets were part of the EU‑funded Training Support to the Fijian Sugarcane Industry project implemented by the Australia‑Pacific Technical College to improve the livelihoods of the sugarcane dependent populations, by promoting income generation through sugarcane farming or alternative livelihoods.
The equipment included vehicles, hand and electrical tools, training resources, computers, projectors, as well as other office equipment.
Jacobs says the Training Support to the Fijian Sugarcane Industry Project has been part of the longstanding assistance that the EU has been providing to the sugar sector in Fiji, amounting to about $119 million to date.
Twomey says she is delighted that Australia’s partnership with the European Union has been successful in helping Fijians in the sugar belt areas.
Through the project, APTC partnered with Habitat for Humanity Fiji to support recovery efforts post Cyclone Winston by developing the construction skills of 33 students including displaced FSC Penang mill workers and family members of local sugarcane farmers through the Certificate II in Construction program and as part of this qualification, students constructed 70 cyclone‑resilient houses for families that were badly affected by the cyclone.
