THE fire that tore through Rarawai Mill has dealt a devastating blow to Fiji’s sugar industry, with the cost of repairs expected to exceed $10million, according to Sugar Minister Charan Jeath Singh.
While the exact cause of the fire is still unknown, Mr Singh said early assessments by the Fiji Sugar Corporation’s (FSC) maintenance team revealed extensive damage to machinery and infrastructure.
“Our maintenance team has found a lot of damage that was not detected earlier,” he said.
“But I can say, the cost will be at least more than $10million for repairing and starting the mill again.”
He said investigators from the relevant authorities were the first to enter the mill after the blaze, and the ministry was still awaiting their official report.
“We have not been able to establish the cause of the fire because the relevant authorities were the first to go in.
“I will try not to speculate on the cause because it might also affect the insurance payment we are looking to get from the brokers.”
Despite the blow, Mr Singh said the Government and FSC were determined to revive operations within weeks.
“We lost the Rarawai Mill because of fire, but we are hoping to restart that mill on December 1. For now, we are relying on the Lautoka Mill to crush all the cane in the Western Division.”
He said at the moment the canes from Rakiraki, Ba and Tavua were being taken to the Lautoka Mill to minimise disruption.
