SUGARCANE growers in Ba were advised to exercise restraint when making comments suggesting Government was not doing enough or did not care about the sugarcane industry.
Speaking as chairperson of the Standing Committee on Economic Affairs during consultations on the Reform of the Sugar Cane Industry Bill, chairperson Lorna Eden said growers should be appreciative of this fact.
She was responding to comments by Varoko Sector farmer Khalid Ali.
Mr Ali said the Bill was treating sugarcane growers like slaves and it would take the industry back to the days of the Colonial Sugar Refinery where the miller called the shots and farmers were subservient to them.
“Our Government is not concerned about going backward, we are only interested in going forward,” she said.
“It is unfair to run the Government down when it is the only shareholder propping up the industry.
“The reason why we are here is because the Government is concerned about you and the 200,000 people who are dependent on the industry.”
Mr Ali responded by saying there was a lot of distrust in the industry with the miller.
“The Fiji Sugar Corporation cannot be allowed to run the whole industry, growers do not have any trust in the system, that is why we are criticising things,” he said.