Three mechanical harvesting cooperatives in the Western Division racked up a bill of more than $85,000 in maintenance works alone during the 2025 crushing season.
Lautoka Cane Producers Association chairperson Bala Dass said repairing a machine was taking its toll on cooperatives that also consisted of large-scale growers.
“We have a cooperative that spent $30,000 repairing their machine and another almost $40,000,” Mr Dass said.
“Between the three cooperatives that is part of our association we’ve spent about $85,0000.
“This new charge will hardly cover our costs.”
Greenfield Mechanical Harvester Cooperative Limited chairperson Krishna Murti Gounder said a single part for the machine could reach between $10,000 and $15,000.
“If a manual labourer gets sick, the hospital is there to give them free service and treatment, but when a machine gets sick, the cooperative has to pay $10,000 and $15,000,” he said.
“Where are we going to get that money? Some cooperatives are running at a negative bank balance for example, me and I have to repay FDB $160,000 every year plus interest. Then we have to look everywhere for loans to make these repayments and to pay for the parts.”
