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 in meeting its loan obligations.
“This allocation ensures that FSC can meet its payment obligations for the EXIM Bank loan,” Singh stated.
He emphasized that the project funded by this loan was among several unsuccessful initiatives 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,” he added.
Furthermore, the Government has allocated $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.
“To address labour shortages affecting various sectors, we aim to mechanize the industry through the Sugarcane Farm Mechanization Programme with a $500,000 budgetary allocation,” Singh said.
In addition, the Government will increase support for farmers who harvest cane manually by raising the labour subsidy from $1 per tonne to $3 per tonne.
To keep the cost of inputs manageable, the Ministry will continue the Fertilizer Subsidy Programme with a $20 million allocation, ensuring that farmers pay only $20 per bag of fertilizer. Additionally, the Government will subsidize weedicide costs with $1 million and provide $4.9 million to subsidize cartage costs for Penang farmers.
To address land lease issues, $1 million has been set aside to assist growers whose leases are expiring or those wishing to purchase land for cane farming, offering a subsidy of 30 percent or $7,500, whichever is lower.
To mitigate the impacts of climate change, the Ministry will continue with a $5.5 million allocation for drainage in sugarcane farms, aiming to reduce the effects of flooding during the offseason.