STAKEHOLDERS in the Sugar Industry have acknowledged how poorly Rarawai mill operated in the last crushing season.
Speaking during the National Sugar Industry Policy consultations in Tavua this week, Rajendra Raghlu a prominent grower from Yaladro said mill issues was one of the biggest challenges for farmers.
“When we talk about mill efficiency, people will shake their heads and they don’t want to hear about what had happened last season,” he said.
“It ended in a very bad way. If this can be taken care of, there must be a policy where both the millers and producers should be bound.
“If the millers are not able to deliver their goods and services, according to the policy, they should be penalised. If the growers are not able to deliver their goods and services according to the policy, they should be penalised. Then only it’s a level playing field.”
Lands Minister Ashneel Sudhakar said they all agreed the Rarawai mill performed very badly last year.
“Twice or three times a month, the Prime Minister asked me to stay at the mill and have a look and I found drivers, from all the way in Rakiraki, waiting three days, sleeping on the bench waiting for the mill to restart,” he said.
“There was a problem with the boiler and this has to be fixed.”
Fiji Sugar Corporation (FSC) chief executive officer Graham Clark said the Rarawai mill had run smoothly during the 2017 season.
“We dealt with Lautoka and look at Lautoka last year, a record weekly crush and on average of more than 60,000 tonnes a week consistently,” he said.
“There were happy farmers delivering cane in Lautoka last year. Labasa, 6000 tonnes a day achieved, no problem.
“In 2017, Rarawai ran well, there were no issues and we were lucky. Unfortunately our luck ran out in 2018. The boiler caught us badly and I didn’t like it, you didn’t like it, the mill manager didn’t like it, nobody did, so we have reacted to that.”
Mr Clark said there was a team of engineers on site and they had selected a boiler contractor, who would completely refurbish the boiler.
He said they were spending nearly $10 million on the project.
