“The day spent worrying about the quality and condition of roads you depend on are over”.
This is the comment made by the Honourable Prime Minister and Minister for Sugar Mr. Voreqe Bainimarama when he officially launched a European union and Pacific community funded $30 million cane access road project in Malolo, Nadi on Tuesday, 14th of March, 2017.
These roads will serve more than 1,800 farmers in Malolo, Drasa and Koronubu and allow them to transport cane to mills and produce to market safely and conveniently.
“There are more than 1,800 sugar cane farmers and their families in Malolo, Drasa and Koronubu. You are a part of a community of more than 200,000 Fijians throughout our country who rely on the health and vitality of our sugar cane industry for their livelihoods. And my Government has a steadfast commitment to not just sustain this industry, but to keep it growing well into the future. We cannot do that without proper agricultural infrastructure”.
” Journeys that were once arduous and inconvenient are quicker and, most importantly, safer than they have ever been. These new roads don’t just offer an easier ride to town. They have brought infrastructure that you can rely on, with the proper drainage and crossings to resist the rains and flooding that are becoming more frequent and more severe in your communities”.
Mr. Bainimarama said that sugar cane farmers will not only benefit from this infrastructure, but also to those who depend on other farming that produce crops that need to reach their markets before they lose their freshness and quality.
He also said that new reform programme for our sugarcane industry will guarantee that these new access roads always carry your cane to mills where it can be crushed and prepared to send on to eager buyers in markets all over the world, where Fijian sugar is definitely in demand.
The Hon PM thanked and commended the European Union and their larger work with the government on their invaluable assistance in reshaping the sugar cane industry and making it the most competitive and productive it has ever been, even in an era of great change in the global sugar market.
