The Fiji Sugar Corporation (FSC) will be making an advance payment of $2 per tonne to all cane farmers tomorrow.

This was announced by the Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama in Labasa yesterday.

Mr Bainimarama said the payment will be deducted from the third and fourth quarter payments.

“What this means is that the tonnage that each farmer delivered to FSC last year multiplied by $2 is the amount that will be paid out this Friday,” he said.

Mr Bainimarama stated no deductions will be made from this advance payment.

Sugar Cane Growers Council chief executive Sundresh Chetty thanked Mr Bainimarama for facilitating this advance payment for cane farmers.

“I received many calls from the farmers requesting for advance payment to do school shopping for their children and so I made a request to FSC,” Mr Chetty said.

“I am very happy our Sugar Minister considered our request and finally farmers can do some shopping tomorrow.”

Advance payments

This would be the second advance payment. The first advance payment was given before Diwali the past year and it was $2.80 per tonne.

This is the second advance payment and so the total of advance payment would be $4.80.

Meanwhile, National Farmers Union President Surendra Lal was not happy with the announcement because he said the advance payment should have been $5 or more.

“All sugar proceeds meaning the sugar that has been sold by FSC to the market, all that fund is with FSC now,” Mr Lal said.

“We are not begging for money because the money that FSC has is our money.

“We are not satisfied with the $2 advance payment. It should have been more.

“Farmers were expecting $5 per tonne or more so they could have done school shopping for their children.

“But with this much, I don’t know what kind of shopping the farmers would be able to do. $2 is just like peanuts.”

Edited by: RACHNA LAL

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