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 help meet its loan obligations.
“This allocation ensures that FSC can meet its payment obligations for the EXIM Bank loan,” he stated.
Singh emphasized that the project undertaken with this loan was one of the many failures under previous regimes. “We are now compelled to bail FSC out through this provision, a necessary measure to rectify past missteps and stabilize the sector,” he added.
Additionally, Singh mentioned that 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 Fiji Corrections Service inmates to harvest cane.
“To address labour shortages affecting many sectors, we aim to mechanize the industry through the Sugarcane Farm Mechanization Programme with a $500,000 budgetary allocation,” he said.
Further support for farmers who manually harvest their cane will be provided through an increased subsidy of $3 per tonne, up from the previous $1 per tonne. The Ministry will also continue the Fertilizer Subsidy Programme with a $20 million allocation, allowing farmers to pay only $20 per bag of fertilizer.
Additionally, $1 million will be allocated to subsidize weedicide costs and $4.9 million to subsidize cartage costs for Penang farmers. To address land lease issues, $1 million has been set aside to assist growers with expiring leases 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 the Drainage for Sugarcane Farms program with a $5.5 million investment, aimed at reducing flooding effects during the offseason.