Farmers lose money if the three mills operate at half their capacity, according to Minister for Sugar, Charan Jeath Singh. “The share of a farmer and grower is 70 to 30 percent,” the minister explained. “If the mill doesn’t make money, it will come out of your percentage.”
Singh addressed farmers at the Sugar Cane Growers Fund office yesterday, emphasizing that restarting a mill consumes a lot of energy and money. “The Labasa mill is currently operational, and I have been informed that it has the potential to produce up to 1.5 million tonnes, but it’s producing less.”
Discussing this year’s production, Singh noted that the tonnes of sugar have not been increasing, and he was uncertain about the cause. “For Vanua Levu, it’s very important to produce more cane,” he added.
The minister mentioned that the production of sugar was expected to increase by 200,000 tonnes, but cautioned that this might not be the case. “We will have to wait and see after the production of sugar.”
He also pointed out that the Labasa mill was performing better than the two mills in the West.