THE sugar industry’s deplorable state is the result of years of neglect and poor management, says the Nadi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) president Dr Ram Raju.
While agreeing with the opinions of a prominent sugarcane farmer in Ba and a former board member of the Fiji Sugar Corporation (FSC) Arvind Singh, who had urged industry leaders to reduce costs in order to revitalise the struggling sector, Dr Raju said serious efforts should be made to get the industry back on track.
“We fully agree with what Mr Arvind Singh has highlighted in the media and the time to take action is now,” Dr Raju said.
He expressed sadness at the state of the sugar sector during the last two decades.
“There is no doubt that sugar prices keep dwindling and are very unstable in the world market due to oversupply and declining demand but this does not mean our industry can not be returned to profitability.”
He said it would be more efficient to have one well-maintained state-of-the-art sugar mill in Viti Levu and one in Vanua Levu.
“Two modern mills which are operated in a cost-effective and efficient manner with minimal costs should be enough for a small country like Fiji which harvest just around a million tonnes of sugarcane with 10,500 active cane farmers.
“It would be nice to think commercially and do away with small mismanaged farms by combining resources and looking at creating bigger and better farms as well.
“Short-term land leases and labour shortages could also be addressed with modern and cost-effective solutions as long as there is a will to do the right thing.”
