In a week after heated debate in Parliament between Government and Opposition MPs as to who has gone and sat down with farmers and lorry drivers to have tea and bread, Fiji Labour Party leader and National Farmers Union (NFU) general secretary Mahendra Chaudhry has done so, according to a social media post.
He spent Sunday morning sharing tea and bread with cane lorry drivers near the congested Lautoka Mill, highlighting what he calls the “dire and ignored” conditions faced by farmers and drivers this crushing season.
Chaudhry was in the West meeting communities when he stopped at the NFU tent, set up two weeks ago to provide free light breakfasts and evening meals to drivers who often wait between 12 and 36 hours to unload their cane.
“These men are worn out,” he said.
“NFU stepped in because someone had to. Drivers can be stranded here for more than a day with no proper support.”
He said the initiative was organised in partnership with the Cane Lorry Drivers Associations of Ba and Lautoka after the temporary closure of the fire-damaged Rarawai Mill placed additional pressure on Lautoka’s operations.
“This became necessary when the Fiji Sugar Corporation, the Ministry of Sugar and the Cane Growers Council chose to ignore the plight of the farmers and the lorry drivers,” Chaudhry said.
