HIS EXCELLENCY THE PRESIDENT RATU WILIAME KATONIVERE'S ADDRESS AT THE OPENING OF THE CRUSHING SEASON AT LABASA MILL

Mr. Bhan Pratap Singh, CEO for Fiji Sugar Cooperation;
Mr. Pradeep Lal, Board Chair of FSC; 
Board Members of FSC;
Mr. Uraia Rainima, Commissioner Northern;
Mr. Mesaka Ledua, Commissioner Western;
Executive Members of FSC;
Divisional Disciplinary Force Commanders in the North – Military, Police and Corrections;
Stakeholder Executives for SGCC( Sugar Cane Growers Council), SCGF(Sugar cane Growers Fund), LCPA, SRIF, Fair trade and Ministry of Sugar Industry reps;
Government Ministry Heads of Departments;
Staff of FSC Labasa;
Members of the media; and
Ladies and Gentlemen.
 
Miau sa bula re and a very good morning to you all!
 
I am always happy to visit our friendly North town and today I am pleased to officiate at the opening of the 2022 crushing season.
 
As we gather today to witness the opening of the 2022 crushing season at the Labasa sugar mill, I would like to reflect on the importance of the sugar industry in Fiji. An estimate of 220,000 people are involved in the industry and for the North, it is the main income generating avenue in the agriculture sector since 1894 when the mill was first established. 
 
The industry has played an important role for the people of Vanua Levu, inclusive of the Macuata province where an estimated 80,000 people are directly and indirectly involved with the sugarcane industry at one time or another. Nearly 4,000 cane growers supply cane to the only sugar mill on the island while around 350 employees are engaged in the maintenance and operations of the factory and coordination of field activities. Other stakeholders including the lorry drivers, cane cutters, mechanical harvester operators, tractor trailer operators and the sirdars from the different gangs make up the balance of people engaged in this important industry.
 
Apart from providing employment benefits to the mill, employees and income to the cane farmers, Labasa sugar mill exports approximately 9 - 11 Gigawatts of electricity into Energy Fiji Limited’s (EFL’s) Northern Electricity Grid during every crushing season. This mode of generation through steam turbine generators during the crushing season enables EFL to save on fuel costs. Cogeneration is an environmentally friendly way of producing energy for consumers in the North.
 
In 2021, cane production dropped to a low volume of 362,236 tons compared to a production of 672,000 tons of cane in the 2020 season. This was due to tropical cyclones Yasa and Ana which brought in strong winds and heavy rain causing flooding in low lying areas across the Vanua Levu cane belt. However, the sugar mill managed to crush out all the cane allowing the farmers more time to cultivate their crop in preparation for the 2022 crushing season. The Labasa mill produced 34,368 tons of sugar for the 2021 season. 
 
The 2022 season looks very promising in Labasa with an expectation of 678,000 tons of cane to be crushed by the mill. Our collective acknowledgement goes to the Ministry of Sugar Industry and the Fiji Sugar Corporation that collectively provided an immediate grant assistance of over $4.0 million to the Labasa cane growers to carry out the recovery and rehabilitation works after the Tropical Cyclone Yasa.  With the TC Yasa Government assisted funds, growers in Labasa received a total of 34,236 bags of Blend C fertiliser, 26,104 litres of Amine, 26,104 kilograms of Diuron and clearing of over 195,000 metres of in-field drains at NO COST.  The FSC also carried out over 1,000 hectares of land preparation at NO COST mainly for those growers affected by the tidal waves.  Another $600,000 was allocated by the Ministry of Sugar Industry to carry out rehabilitation works on the damaged tramlines which brought huge relief to the Daku and Wainikoro cane growers who could deliver their cane to the mills on time.  
 
In preparation for the 2022 crushing season, FSC has spent approximately $10.8 million to carry out maintenance and another $1.3 million to conduct capital works in the Labasa mill that will improve crushing efficiencies. The replacement of the economiser unit should see an improvement in fuel savings and enable continuity of boiler operations throughout the season. In addition, improvement works at the process end, should ensure that there is more reliability in the process and plants can efficiently and continuously recover the much-needed sugar in view of the increased cane production this year.
 
The sugar industry has had its fair share of hurdles in the past and I urge all stake holders to join hands to move this industry forward. Our cane farmers are an important asset to this industry, and we must all ensure that they continue to operate their farms as a business and sustain the supply of cane each year. I have been informed that there are a total of 42 mechanical harvesters that will be operating this year, 28 of these harvesters were Government funded while FSC is operating 5 of its own harvesters in Labasa. 
 
I understand that the rising fuel prices have brought serious challenges to the mechanical harvester operators but they are fortunate that their plight for an increase in harvesting rates have been finally heard by the Fijian Competition and Consumer Commission (FCCC).  After considering the submissions from the mechanical harvester operators and analysing views from other stakeholders, the FCCC has determined the new rate to increase from this year to $20.60 from the previous rate of $17.50 per tonne.  This will ensure that mechanical harvester operators are able to bare the rising fuel costs as well as make timely re-payments to the financiers.  
 
I have also been informed that there will be approximately 445 lorries and another 135 tractor trailers that will be in operation in Labasa mill area this season.  Similar to the harvester operators, these lorry operators and tractor trailers are feeling the brunt of the increasing fuel prices and as expected would demand for an increase in transportation rate from growers.  
 
However, it is my humble request to the growers, lorry operators and tractor drivers to be mindful of the repercussions of the increasing fuel price and its impact on all stakeholders.  You all will need to discuss the rates that will work best for all parties given that you all are heavily dependent on each other for your livelihoods.  I also urge the lorry drivers and tractor operators to take advantage of the 14 days grace period and have your vehicles certified and ensure that you remain in the weight limits to avoid unnecessary fines. 
 
In terms of the rail transportation, there are 7 locomotives operational this year and this should boost the rail fleet delivery.  I have been informed that in past two years there used to be derailments and majority of it were in the Mouta Navoualevu area. I am pleased to announce that FSC will be replacing approximately 1km of rails to mitigate this problem.  The hotspots in remaining tramline network have been attended to together with some works on trambridges. FSC has also prepared 1300 rail trucks and 11 cage bins to assist in the transportation of cane to the mills. 
 
To ensure sustainability of the sugar industry, the Fiji Sugar Corporation is embarking on a strategic plan to move the industry forward through two streams with other stakeholders. The first and important stream is to increase cane production to more than 2 million tons by 2023 and progressively do this through continuous good husbandry practices and to increase the land planted under cane. Increasing the yield is one of the corporation’s objectives for both current area under cane and new area identified for cane planting. The other stream that the corporation is targeting are effective and efficient milling processes at all 3 factories to improve the sugar recovery and factory efficiencies.  
 
As a former board member, I continuously keep myself abreast with the work done by the current board and management and must stress the need to improve cane production to more than 2 million tons for the factories to break-even or to make profits. Our sugar mills also needs to improve on plant reliability and efficient operations to produce more sugar per ton of cane. 
 
Moreover, I once again acknowledge the assistance and support from the Government to the sugarcane industry especially to our growers through various grants and subsidies.  Growers must take full benefit of the assistance provided and help increase cane production and supply to the mills. 
 
We all look forward to another successful year in 2022 and wish Labasa mill and the other 2 Viti Levu mills the very best in their operations. 
 
I now officially open the 2022 crushing season for Labasa mill.
 
Vinaka Vakalevu and God Bless our Fiji.
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