Good news for over 2000 sugarcane farming households in the Western division as the road rehabilitation works on 29 kilometres of cane access roads in the Malolo sector in Nadi started today.
The $30 million road rehabilitation works which is funded by the European Union under their Accompanying Measures for the Sugar Protocol programme are being implemented by the South Pacific Community’s Rural Access Roads and Associated Infrastructure project.
The project will see over 200 kilometres of cane access roads and drainage systems in the Malolo, Drasa and Koronubu cane sectors rehabilitated between now and the 2018 cane crushing seasons.
Besides the road rehabilitation, the project supports and promotes income generation for the most vulnerable populations in Fiji's Sugar communities through creating employment possibilities during the construction period.
It will also have environmental benefits as it will reduce soil erosion.
The construction works were officially launched by the Prime Minister and Minister for Sugar Industry Voreqe Bainimarama in Malolo today.
SPC’s Chief Adviser, Patricia Sachs-Cornish says the project will directly benefit a minimum of a thousand farmers in the three sectors through the upgrading of close to 210 kilometres of cane access roads.
She says drain rehabilitation is also an important element of the project and around 30km of field drains will be cleaned and cleared to improve water drainage systems in the targeted cane belt areas.
She says in the coming months, the project will engage selected cane farmers and sugar cane industry stakeholders in the formulation of a maintenance plan for these roads, thus strengthening their ownership of the project.
