Canefarmers, cane carting trucks and train, harvesting gangs, sugarcane mill workers and the list goes on never ending to which they all have their own little workers registered respective little unions which they worship as gods, but until now no one can ever seem to find a solution to the problems they are so engrossed with year in and year out.
Where is their industrial relations? Come on, collaborate and keep talking to Government but stop the blame game.
Every year, one day before the sugarcane crushing season starts, millions of problems will spring out from nowhere until all the country’s four sugar mills’ black smoke that emanates out of its large chimneys come to a halt after the crushing season is over, but the problems are never resolved.
This is our national economy and the bread and butter issue for our many Fijian farmers.
At the same time, they are the honey coves where sugar politics are being manufactured through these Fijian workers, who I believe are consistently used as pawns to further the political agendas of some failed politicians.
For all the wrong reasons, they claim their political parties genuinely represent these workers and are fighting for the rights of these cane stakeholders and that they can identify accordingly with the plight of our girmitya indentured labourers’ descendants who are pioneers in the birth of our country’s sugarcane industry, but at the same time paying no respect to the iTaukei resource owners’ plight.
Our PM’s visit to our cane belt areas around the country is a timely one to hear from the horse’s mouth what really is their problem relevant to what has been translated to them on the Sugar Cane Industry Bill of 2016 together with the Sugar Cane Growers Fund Amendment Bill of 2016, but most importantly to inform them of our Government’s long-term plan for the industry. This year, we have a very unique situation whereby, we all have to reconstruct and rebuild our nation from whatever little is left that was caused by Severe TC Winston.
I would like to urge all our canefarmers and all the relevant stakeholders to please work with Government to assist you all equally reap the benefits from the $11m allocated by Government in our National Budget for the year 2016/2017 for cane replanting.
Right now, its petty issues aside, we must all be responsible to keep the industry afloat and the wheels at the three sugar mills turning.
Let’s harvest and stop the cane burning in order for FSC to deliver our sweet Fijian sugar to its respective markets and meet all its contractual agreements.
Despite the many problems we face, our Fiji sugar industry is resilient and it is a credit to all you great statesmen and women concerned.