NFU's message to cane farmers
and farm workers

[Posted 24 Dec 2002, 12:30]

We are passing through very difficult times. Cane farmers must prepare themselves to fight the injustices being heaped on them by the SDL government.

If we do not unite to protect ourselves from those who seek to destroy us, then we will surely become slaves like our forefathers were in the days of the GIRMIT.

A COMMUNITY UNDER ASSAULT

We are a community under assault from many directions. We, as a people, are victims of racial discrimination in the land of our birth. We are a landless community despite making up almost half of the population. We are targets for armed criminals who terrorise and rob us and violate our women before their husbands and children.

We do not receive the protection of the law when force is used unlawfully to evict us from our farms. Many of us lost our homes and our life's savings when landowners forced their way to occupy our property while leases were valid.

Remember, the plight of the farmers of Nabitu who have been paying $20 per trip to extortionist landowners for months now to use the access road to and from their homes. The police and government have done absolutely nothing about this criminal act.

Our community is discriminated against in affirmative action programmes under the Social Justice Act. Our people from the poorest families cannot get scholarships to educate their children because we are excluded from the programme. There is so much discrimination against our poor people.

More than 3500 of our brothers and sisters and their families have been displaced from their farms on expiry of leases. Most of the land taken away from us is lying idle and reverting to bush. Land was taken from us not because the landowners wanted to use it themselves. We were evicted because some people wanted to see Indians marginalised - it was politically orchestrated by some Fijian politicians and some senior people in the NLTB.

The indiscriminate eviction of Indian farmers from native land was intended by these people to put pressure on Indian leaders in parliament to agree to their demand to bring all native leases under Native Lands Act and to scrap ALTA.

SUGAR INDUSTRY RESTRUCTURE

Now, the government is penalising you further by wanting to impose a sugar industry restructure programme on you which will break your back.

To pay for this restructure which is really a package to save FSC from bankruptcy, the government wants you to accept the following:

Pay VAT of 12.5% - increased from the current rate of 10%. Already imposed by 2003 Budget.

Pay sugar export tax of 10% - increased from the present 3% in the 2003 Budget. This means you will pay $5 per tonne of cane now towards this tax.

Agree to a cane price of $32 per tonne. Whether you get anymore than this will depend on the profits made by the new milling company which will takeover from the FSC.

You will have to take shares in the new company.

You will have to become a tenant of the new company if you are farming on leased land whether state land or native land. All existing leases will be terminated and a new head lease on cane land will be issued to the company. You will have no say in the rent you will have to pay to the company.

Sugar Industry Act and Master Award will be repealed and replaced by individual contracts.

Sugar industry institutions such as Sugar Commission of Fiji, Sugar Industry Tribunal etc will be abolished.

Transport of cane by rail will be phased out. All cane will have to be transported by lorries to the mills. Those using the rail system in the interim will be required to pay for it

Advances for harvesting, fertilisers and other authorised purposes will be discontinued/abolished once the Master Award is repealed. Any future advances will be treated as loans attracting interest.

There will be many more painful impositions on you as a farmer. Your knees will buckle under the weight of this restructure.

It will be like returning to the Girmit under CSR.

We must all unite to fight and destroy this evil restructure programme.

Why should you and your children have to pay for mismanagement and abuse of the Fiji Sugar Corporation? Government should bail it out, not you! Government owns it, not you!

Now, it wants to suck your blood and force you to be a shareholder in a bankrupt company. Your shareholding is not permanent. It will lapse when you leave the industry either voluntarily or because your lease is not renewed.

It is a pity that the Sugar Cane Growers Council, Chief Executive, Jagannath Sami has sold out on you. He is now talking for FSC and government. We must kick him out of the industry. You can't have people representing you who undermine your future.

NFU WILL NEED YOUR SUPPORT & SOLIDARITY

National Farmers Union has made it clear to FSC and government that it will oppose the restructure proposals because it is an unjust imposition on farmers. It will make them paupers. NFU will not tolerate an act of gross injustice on the farmers.

You will recall our struggle against the Kermode Master Award in 1990. We had forged unbreakable unity amongst farmers on the strength of which we fought and won against the FSC, Sugar Cane Growers Council and the then post-coup interim government.

This time around, we will need to do the same. We must unite. There must be only one voice of the farmers and that voice must come from the National Farmers Union.

So, equip yourselves to fight the battle ahead of you. You will need to prepare well because it could be a long-drawn fight. You must talk to your neighbours and friends about it. You must set aside your differences and small quarrels to unite for your survival.

WHAT MUST YOU DO?

There are certain things you must begin to do right away in preparation for the struggle ahead.

The first is to ensure that you do not spend money on unnecessary things. You will need to save as much money as you can for your needy days.

Do not be tempted by fancy and false advertisements of sale by shopkeepers. Buy only what is needed not what you or your wife fancy.

Plant vegetables and food crops for your own consumption and sell whatever is surplus. As a farmer, you must grow your own vegetables and raise your own poultry or goats for meat. If you heed this advice, you will save several hundred dollars each year. The money saved will help to educate your children and pay for your other necessities like electricity, water, etc.

You must cut down on spending too much on yaqona, cigarettes and liquor. Many of our farmers and their grown-up children have fallen victims to the habit of excessive drinking of yaqona or liquor and to smoking. It is a habit which is bad for health and brings unhappiness to the family.

In the coming season you must make every effort to cut your own cane rather than bringing in people from outside. By doing this work yourself, you will earn additional income for the family. You will also not bring in problems in the way of outsiders committing crimes in your village.

We have seen serious cases of violent robbery, terrorising and rape of our women by people brought in from outside.

Remain alert and vigilant at all times. Secure your home and property from thieves. Make sure someone in the family always keeps an eye on your livestock and poultry. Ensure that there is always some one at home. Never leave the house unattended.

Organise yourselves into community watch groups. Youths can be mobilised to protect the village from criminals, they should form themselves into village patrol groups to provide security to their families at night.

These are some suggestions to help you and your family. If you follow them seriously, you will be a happy person. You will be able to save money for better things. You will take care of your health. You will bring happiness to your family. And you will secure your property and loved ones from criminals.

NFU will hold meetings throughout the cane belt to keep you informed of the developments with regard to the above matters. These meetings will start from January next year.

Meanwhile, have a good Christmas and New Year - but remember to be always alert.