Permit denied for cane transport meeting

[posted 29 Sept 2011,1400]

Members of the Vanua Levu Farmers Milling Transport Union are up in arms at the last minute cancellation of the permit issued to them to hold their AGM in Labasa on 28 September.

A spokesperson for the union confirmed that permit for the AGM had been granted on 15 September but was cancelled just one hour before the meeting was due to start on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, an official of the union was advised by the Cane Development Manager FSC Labasa Mill, Navitalai, that the Army will cancel the permit.

Members of the Union have been facing huge problems as a result of the malfunctioning of the mill. Lorries queuing outside the mill for hours on end is a common sight. Lorry drivers have had to put up with long periods of between 48-72 hours to offload when the mill is down due to mechanical problems.

The spokesperson said the union will now take up the matter further to protect the right of its members to hold meetings to discuss such operational problems and other matters associated with their livelihood.

It seems the authorities have adopted as standard practice the last minute cancellation of permits issued earlier to organizations, thus putting their members to much inconvenience and unnecessary expense. It will be recalled that similar tactics were used to abort the meeting of the Fiji Trades Union Congress and the Fiji Public Service Association.

LR Vayeshnoi