Minister for Sugar Charan Jeath Singh says the Fiji Sugar Corporation (FSC) is insolvent, meaning that it does not have any money to run on a daily basis.
In an exclusive interview with FijiLive, Singh said that the Government has been giving FSC money on a yearly basis.
Singh said FSC owes the Government more than $400 million.
“In terms of cash for FSC to fund its operations and because of an inactive Balance Sheet, we always have to go to Government to guarantee the funds in order to service our operations,” Singh said.
Also, last week, His Excellency the President, Ratu Wiliame Katonivere outlined the Government’s plan to revitalize the sugar industry.
Singh said a lot of incentives will be given to farmers to plant more sugarcane.
“If you’re planting 500 tonnes of sugarcane, and you increase your yield to 700 tonnes, which is 200 tonnes more, we will pump in more cash on top of the $85 per tonnes that we are paying already.”
“Also, if you send green cane to the mills, you will receive more cash as well,” he added.
Singh said last Friday he spoke with the Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka to set up the Rakiraki Mill again.
He added they are trying to source a Mill that is not being used overseas and bring it to Fiji to re-set it up again.
