PM signals rethink on sugar industry support

Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka says Government is exploring alternatives to ensure taxpayers’ money is used more effectively as questions remain over continued sugar industry funding.

Speaking in Ba last Saturday, Mr Rabuka said Cabinet had discussed the direction of the economy and the need to keep money circulating.

“We have to keep the economy going and taxpayers are the people who are keeping the economy going. The more we earn, the more we spend, the more the money circulates, and that is what we have to keep going and keep doing,” Mr Rabuka said.

He said many people continued to depend on an industry that was not providing enough returns.

“So many people rely on that cow that is not giving Fiji any milk,” he said.

Mr Rabuka said the Government needed to consider what could be done in the future for sugar farmers and whether the land could be used more productively.

“We have to come up with what to do, what can be done in the future, what can be done for those farmers and the land that they are sitting on, which might be much better used instead of pouring money down the drain.”

He said the Government had to look at alternatives.

Over the years, an average of $70 million has been allocated annually to support the sugar industry.

On cane harvesting, Mr Rabuka said the Government had provided farmers with a guaranteed price to support them.

“We had given them a guaranteed price to be able to start. If they have other reasons, maybe transportation costs, we will deal with that when it is brought to Cabinet as a problem. Transport, we can find alternatives,” he said.