A Bill to amend the Sugar Cane Growers Fund Act will be debated in parliament today to enable the Sugar Cane Growers Council board to function efficiently and effectively with full membership.
While moving a motion on the bill yesterday, Attorney General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said the government is streamlining the highly bureaucratic setup of the sugarcane industry since the colonial days.
He said the Sugar Ministry has had widespread consultations on the proposed amendments.
Sayed-Khaiyum said the Bill proposes to amend the composition of the board so that members of the board and its chairperson are appointed by the minister.
He proposed that the Bill amends Section 7 of the Act to ensure the minister appoints the members of the board and its chairperson.
Sayed-Khaiyum highlighted that the Sugar Cane Growers Fund Act provides for the establishment and management of the Sugar Cane Growers Fund.
The function of the Fund amongst other things is to provide loans to sugarcane growers for specific purposes.
He added the Act also establishes the Board of Management for the Fund subject to any direction by the Minister for Sugar.
However, Opposition MP Tupou Draunidalo said she will not be voting in favour of this motion to move this in such a swift manner.
NFP Leader Biman Prasad urged the government to bring this Bill in the next sitting of parliament so that they get more time to have consultations with members of the public.
Meanwhile, National Farmers Union General Secretary Mahendra Chaudhry calls on the government to withdraw the Bill and carry out proper consultations with the growers unions on the changes being proposed.
Chaudhry believes the Cane Producers Association is not the legitimate representative of the growers as they were specifically set up after 2010 when the elected growers’ councilors were removed by the regime.
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