Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama told people of Rakiraki and Tavua that his opponents will, in the lead up to the 2018 General Election, come with their doomsday predictions for the sugar industry.

He gave the timely reminder while speaking to more than a thousand sugarcane farmers and landowners during his consultation in Tavua and Rakiraki yesterday.

Mr Bainimarama said his opponents would also come up with their same false promises.

“They don’t have belief in your potential or in this industry, they don’t have real plans and they have no real interest in your well-being,” Mr Bainimarama said.

“For them it’s all politics, it’s all about how you can help them and never the other way around.”

Mr Bainimarama then reminded them that securing a future of the sugar industry was not about smiles and sitting around the grog spinning fantasies.

“It is about leadership, it is about having a strategic vision and plan for this industry, it’s about being honest, telling the situation as it is and being clear about what is necessary moving forward. I’ve always been honest and I always will be,” he said.

National Federation Party leader, Biman Prasad last night refused to make comment on the issue and stated that he would respond once this article was published.

Social Democratic Liberal Party leader, Sitiveni Rabuka said this was a comment that was always broadcast by Mr Bainimarama in his previous statements.

Edited by Percy Kean