Riya Bhagwan 
A monitoring system aimed at ensuring effective fund use within the sugar industry has resulted in several farmers being denied funding because they are not productive.
Grants provided to farmers last year were reportedly misused, as some recipients allegedly failing to produce cane.
To address this issue, the Sugar Ministry advised relevant stakeholders to conduct thorough investigations to prevent the misuse of funds.
A project steering committee, including representatives from the Fiji Sugar Corporation, Sugar Cane Growers Council, Sugar Research Institute of Fiji, Ministry of Sugar, and sometimes fertilizer organizations, oversees grant approvals.
Applications from unproductive farmers are further investigated before grants are approved.
Sugar Cane Growers Fund Chief Executive, Raj Sharma, says several factors were considered before denying the grants.
“They (the evaluation team) find that the farm is not in a strategic location, number one. Number two, the farmer is not that productive, has not put any money or any cane on the farm. Number three, some of the farmers we also found that they are in overseas, but there is a caretaker who is looking after the farm.”
Sugar Minister Charan Jeath Singh adds the process has three surveys which include checks on land preparation, verifying cane planting, and the third is to assess the growth of the cane.
Funding is released in three phases, corresponding to the completion of each assessment.
