SUGAR Minister Charan Jeath Singh says no one is to blame for the mill accident that left a Fiji Sugar Corporation (FSC) worker seriously injured.
The mill worker was reportedly injured after being trapped in a conveyor belt on Wednesday.
“My permanent secretary (Dr Vinesh Kumar) was at the mill yesterday (Thursday) looking into the issue and from the initial assessment I received, the incident was completely accidental,” Mr Singh said yesterday.
“The worker was doing his assessments and his leg got caught in the conveyor belt which led to the mill being shut down.
“They got him out by cutting through the conveyor belt and so far, we are ensuring he is being taken care of.”
Mr Singh said mill operations will continue once the conveyor belt is restored.
“Because the belt had to be cut, they had to close down the mill not only for the investigations but to also repair the belt.
“Once that is done then they will resume crushing in Lautoka.”
The minister added all necessary precautions would be strengthened.
“We will step up our precautionary measures. We don’t want this happening again and I am sure FSC will see to that.”
The accident occurred on Wednesday evening, forcing crushing operations to be completely halted for 36 hours.
The Ministry of Employment and Work Place Relations has also carried out its own inquiry into the incident.