Sugar Minister Charan Jeath Singh announced in Parliament this week that the Government has allocated $15 million in working capital support to the Fiji Sugar Corporation (FSC) to assist with its loan obligations.
“This allocation ensures that FSC can meet its payment obligations for the EXIM Bank loan,” he stated.
He emphasized that the project associated with this loan was one of the many failures under previous administrations. “We are now compelled to bail FSC out through this provision, a necessary measure to rectify past missteps and stabilize the sector,” Singh added.
In addition to this, the Government has designated $4 million for the sugar price stabilization fund, $4 million for cane planting, $1 million for farm incentives, $4 million for cane access roads, and $320,000 for the Fiji Corrections Service inmates to harvest cane.
“Addressing labor shortages that have impacted many sectors, we aim to mechanize the industry through the Sugarcane Farm Mechanization Programme with a $500,000 budgetary allocation,” Singh said.
Furthermore, support for farmers who manually harvest their cane will be increased by providing a subsidy of $3 per tonne, up from the previous $1 per tonne. To manage input costs, the Ministry will continue with the Fertilizer Subsidy Programme of $20 million, ensuring that farmers will only pay $20 per bag of fertilizer.
Additionally, the Government will subsidize weedicide costs with a $1 million allocation and allocate $4.9 million towards cartage costs for Penang farmers. To address land lease issues, $1 million has been set aside to assist growers whose leases are expiring or who wish to purchase land for cane farming, offering a subsidy of either 30 percent or $7,500, whichever is lower.
To combat the effects of climate change, the Ministry will continue its Drainage for Sugarcane Farms initiative with a $5.5 million budget, aiming to reduce the impact of flooding during the offseason.