Govt says no railway investment until farmers boost cane output

Although carting harvested cane by rail is cheaper, the Government will not invest in rail infrastructure unless farmers start producing more.

This has been confirmed by Minister for Sugar Industry Charan Jeath Singh in Parliament while responding to Opposition MP Faiyaz Koya on which form of transportation is cheaper.

Singh says the railway system is far more cost-effective, noting that in Australia cane is transported by rail at around $4 per tonne, while in Fiji it is costing nearly $35 per tonne from Sigatoka.

He says he must thank the Prime Minister for pushing him to bring the railway system back as much as possible.

While responding to a question on whether there are any major capital works currently going on for repair and maintenance of the railway system, Singh says we need to first get farmers to start producing in a big way.

The Minister says they cannot be spending money on the infrastructure when they cannot see a result on the ground.

He adds when they are sure the farmers are producing well, they will definitely start maintaining to the place where it should be, particularly from Sigatoka.