Rakiraki sugarcane farmer Sakiasi Kaitani has pleaded with the Fiji Corrections Service to assist growers with an increasing amount of standing cane suggesting a rehabilitation centre be established on the Fiji Sugar Corporation land which is filled with this unharvested cane.
Speaking during the sugar select committee meeting in Rakiraki on Wednesday, Mr Kaitani highlighted the financial and labour strains facing local growers.
“Due to the increase in standover cane from last year, I am pleading with the Fiji Correction Service to convert these areas into a rehab centre and harvest all the cane on the FSC land,” he said.
Mr Kaitani said inmate labour would provide much-needed financial relief to the farming community.
“Cane cutting by the corrections inmates is $20 per tonne, we are pleading for your assistance,” he said.
Mr Kaitani said the regional terrain made harvesting exceptionally difficult, leaving farmers at the mercy of high local labour rates.
A lot of the sugarcane farms are in hilly areas where standard harvests cannot reach, resulting in village boys charging $30 per tonne to cut the cane.
Mr Kaitani requested that more inmates be deployed to the region to assist farmers in harvesting the cane.
The committee noted his concerns.
