Opposition MP Viam Pillay has accused the Fiji Sugar Corporation (FSC) of creating confusion and uncertainty in the industry by moving to close tramlines serving the Rarawai and Lautoka mills while simultaneously requiring growers and harvesting gangs to sign harvesting agreements before announcing the forecast cane price and transport rates.
Pillay said the corporation’s decision to apply for closure of the tramlines “made no sense”, particularly after the Government spent $1.7 million last September repairing the same railway infrastructure. “To make it worse, FSC has gone rogue by trying to shut down the tramlines for the Rarawai and Lautoka mills,” he said. “Why waste 1.7 million dollars to fix a track and then shut it down a few months later?”
The Opposition MP warned that closing the tramlines would force farmers to rely on road transport, which he said would push up costs at a time when growers are already facing rising expenses. “They want to force farmers to use expensive trucks so all their money goes into fuel,” Pillay said, stressing that shifting from rail to road could markedly increase outlays for smallholders and harvesting gangs.
Pillay’s other major complaint concerned the Master Award Growers Agreement (MOGA). He accused the FSC of pressuring growers and harvesting gangs to sign the MOGA — the memorandum of gang agreement governing cutting and cartage arrangements — before the forecast cane price and transport rates had been made public. “This is completely wrong,” he said. “How can a farmer plan his budget or know what to pay cane cutters and truck drivers when he does not even know the price of his cane?”
As the harvesting season approaches, Pillay called on the FSC to suspend the MOGA signing process until key industry figures are released and urged both the corporation and the Government to withdraw the tramline closure application. “Withdraw the application to close the tramlines and use the tracks we just spent 1.7 million dollars to fix,” he said. “FSC and the Government must stop hiding and clear up this mess before the harvesting season is completely ruined.”
Pillay’s comments represent the latest escalation in a developing dispute over transport arrangements and contract transparency ahead of the season. He framed his intervention as a defence of growers’ ability to budget and negotiate fairly, and signalled that further scrutiny will follow unless the FSC publishes the forecast cane price and the transport rates that will underpin MOGA agreements.