THE Fiji Sugar Corporation (FSC) is bleeding left, right and centre and Opposition MPs were responsible for this “homicide”.
This was Sugar Minister Charan Jeath Singh’s response after the MPs launched a scathing criticism against the sugar industry.
“They have a very short memory of the last government, of what Rakiraki Mill went through,” Mr Singh said.
“Given the current state of FSC, we will require nearly half a billion dollars in the next five years to put a new plant and equipment. Repairs and maintenance will get to some resemblance of operational normalcy.
“Under the watch of the FijiFirst Government we lost nearly $800million to one project alone as they all slept on the job. This compounded by an outstanding $75m to the EXIM Bank of India, which was added to at least $25m in interest cost.”
He said because of the FijiFirst government’s incompetence, FSC now faced one of the largest corporate claims in the history of Fiji, of $31m.
“Under their very own eyes, they had seen the destruction of the industry and have not uttered a word against the destroyers of the Rarawai Mill performance and the cane production which decreased from 1.26 million tonnes down to 356,000 tonnes.
“The same people rattling here that the sugar industry has gone down, who else is to be blamed – 16 years of rule? I am very sorry to see that people who do understand simple English or Hindi for that matter, if you do not understand, I can say it in Hindi too.
“All this happened, and they did nothing. Our team of committed employees, management, farmers, cane harvesters and transport workers, we are putting every ounce of our energy struggling, or vastly to deplete the resources, to revive the almost sacred industry.”
