The truth about the 4th Cane Payment
[posted 29 Oct 2010,1600]
Cane farmers are understandably angry at
receiving an abysmally low 4th cane payment of 37c a tonne for their 2009
crop – the final payment for the season’s crop.
FSC spokesman Samu Railoa is clearly
misleading cane farmers when he claims that this very low 4th cane payment
was due to an 8% decline in the price EU paid for Fiji sugar. (Statement to
Fiji Times 29.10.10)
“Primarily the reduction is due to the
decline in average sugar price by 8% compared to the previous year. The EU
has announced reforms to its internal sugar market regime, which resulted in
the lowering of prices obtainable in the EU by a cumulative 36% over 4
years”, the paper quotes him as saying.
Cane farmers as well as the entire nation
know that the extremely low final payment for the season is ‘primarily’ due
to the fact that the 2009 crushing season was a complete disaster in terms
of the operations of the four mills.
In April this year, cane growers had sent
a petition to the Sugar Cane Growers Council seeking compensation for the
substantial losses they sustained as a result of chronic milling problems
last season.
In 2009, FSC had only made 165,000 tonnes
of sugar from the 2.25 million tonnes of cane supplied to the four mills by
the growers, at a TCTS of 13.48.
“This effectively means that almost 4.5
tonnes of cane per tonne of sugar went to waste because of negligence and
inefficiency on the part of the Corporation in complying with its
obligations under the Master Award,” the petition read.
At the beginning of the 2009 season, FSC
had given assurances that all mills had been refurbished and would operate
smoothly. It announced a forecast price of $61.17 per tonne of cane. This
price should have taken into consideration the 8% reduction in the price for
sugar paid by EU last year.
Based on this forecast, the anticipated
price for the 2009 cane was $71.05c per tonne of cane. But, farmers have
received a mere $56.63c a tonne – if one disregards the advance payment of
$3.74c a tonne of cane given as part of the third cane payment and which
will be offset against their 2011/2012 season payments.
Growers are well aware that tens of
thousands of litres of partially processed cane juice was regularly dumped
into the rivers in Rarawai, Labasa and Penang and into the ocean at Lautoka
last year. Growers stated in their petition that almost 1 million tonnes of
cane went to waste because of gross negligence and inefficiency on the part
of the miller.
This is the real reason FSC is not able to
meet the anticipated price of at least $71.05c for the 2009 season. It
should at least have the honesty to tell the growers the truth.
Growers need to be compensated for this
immense loss sustained by them as a result of gross negligence on the part
of FSC. The NFU calls on the Sugar Cane Growers Council to take all
necessary steps to ensure that the growers receive this compensation, in the
interest of justice and fair play.
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