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Sugar Cane Growers Council chief executive officer Surendra Sharma has expressed his disappointment at the “middle ground” tone of a submission made by Sugar Commission of Fiji chairman John May to the interim government last week regarding the financially troubled South Pacific Fertilizer Ltd (SPF).
Sharma told FijiLive today that May’s position still marginalized Fiji’s cane farmers.
“My problem with May’s suggestion is that he is advocating a price increase for fertilizer to be sold to farmers at $31.20 per bag which is over and above what the Prices and Incomes Board has prescribed. Add to this his request for government to fund a $9 million dollar subsidy of which $5 million will come out of funds earmarked for plant cane assistance to farmers. Even with this solution, there is no guarantee that all production costs will be met as he is still working on a hypothetical decrease in raw material prices,” Sharma said.
“All May is doing is defending and supporting the Fiji Sugar Corporation (FSC) position and trying to ensure that FSC is not forced to commit to a 70/30 sharing of costs of fertilizer under the Master Award. Strange for someone who one would think should side with the farmers as 70 percent of his salary is paid by the farmers,” he added.
May told FijiLive this week that his submission to the government “tried to take into account the views of both FSC and SCGC,” as the two parties were at loggerheads over whether or not farmers should bear the proposed 250 percent price increase in the price fertilizer sold by SPF.
SPF, owned by FSC (40 percent), SCGC (40 percent) and the Sugar Cane Growers Fund (20 percent), was trading below costs over the last five years despite a rise in the cost of raw materials worldwide.
The 250 percent price increase is seen as necessary to save the company from collapsing.
Its financial problems cast a shadow over Fiji’s sugar industry in recent weeks with the SCGC opposing the FSC’s proposal to pass on this proposed price increase to cane farmers, especially after farmers were subject last month to a two third deduction from their most recent cane proceeds towards a $6.56 million Growers Fund loan to the SPF last year.
