LOWEST FINAL PAYMENT IN HISTORY
The Executive Chairman of Fiji Sugar Corporation Abdul Khan has deliberately misled and deceived cane growers and the people of Fiji about the final cane payment for the 2014 season.
The final cane payment for the 2014 season is not 71 cents that was paid out last Friday but actually THIRTY CENTS (30 cents) per tonne of cane. This is proven from the FSC’s growers statement of accounts provided to growers before every cane payment.
The additional 41 cents is the growers’ 70% share of proceeds from the liquidation of Fiji Sugar Marketing in 2009. Therefore this makes the 30 cents final payment the lowest in history. It is 7 cents lower than the 37 cents per tonne paid in 2010. The 41 cents added to the final payment was based on the total cane crop crushed for 2009, which was 2.247 million tonnes. The distribution of 41 cents was based on the total tonnage of 2,247 million in 2009.
This also means that new growers or contract holders who entered the industry from 2010 did not receive the 41 cents per tonne but were only paid 30 cents. This is a fact. On Saturday 31st October Mr Abdul Khan (in a page 3 report of the Fiji Times) accused the NFP of making statements without any real facts to support it. The NFP does not believe in making rhetorical statements.
Statements of account provided by FSC to growers provided by the FSC obtained by the NFP clearly shows what is the truth. Surely Mr Khan as the authority responsible for the payment cannot be oblivious to this fact. The statements of three different growers show the same thing: –
“ .41 (41 cents) FSM (Fiji Sugar Marketing) Liquidation payment” “.308 (30 cents) Final Payments”
* The three statements of three different growers (names & farm numbers erased to protect their identities) are enclosed with our media release.
Therefore Mr Khan must answer why is he lying about that the lowest final or (wash-up payment according to him) was 37 cents in 2010? Why cannot he plainly tell the truth that the final payment of 30 cents for 2014 is the lowest ever?
Why is he lying that 71 cents was the “wash-up” payment? Why is he hiding the fact that 41 cents was the growers’ share of proceeds from the liquidation of Fiji Sugar Marketing (FSM) in 2009 – some 6 years ago?
The question also arises as to why weren’t the proceeds from FSM liquidation paid to growers in 2010? What was the total share of proceeds of growers from the liquidation? How much interest was earned on the total sum for the last 6 years?
Based on the total production of 2.247 million tonnes for 2009 the total payout from liquidation to growers was $921,270. Growers have a right to know whether this is the principal sum or includes interest accrued for 6 years.
These are fundamental issues that need honest answers. Mr Khan must also stop lying and deceiving growers. The problem is that growers have no say in the marketing of sugar with all powers vested in the executive chairman of FSC.
This is the sad and unmistakable reality.
Prof Biman Prasad Leader
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