'Don’t forget, twice I sacked you from my office & I got you back' - PM tells Tikoduadua

Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has told NFP President Pio Tikoduadua in parliament that he should not forget that Bainimarama sacked Tikoduadua twice and brought him back.

Bainimarama went on to say that this was the Bainimarama Boom.

He also told Tikoduadua to remember that he got a road to his farm done for free.

Bainimarama made the comments while responding to Tikoduadua’s question about the high average of total cane to total sugar of 11.8 recorded by the Fiji Sugar Corporation until 10th August 2020.

The Prime Minister claims that Tikoduadua has been going around telling people that there is nothing to show for the 50 years of the Bainimarama Boom.

He says Tikoduadua should get his head out of the sand so he can see everything happening around him.

Bainimarama says it was unusual to be discussing total cane to total sugar this early in the crushing season given they have barely completed crushing 30% of this season's total cane.

He says he knows Tikoduadua’s question is not being asked for the sake of practically, it is clearly for some political purposes.

Bainimarama adds total cane to total sugar is a measure of efficiency and quality.

He says it is the ratio of total tonnes of cane required to produce a tonne of sugar.

Bainimarama adds it is an important metric – one that is influenced by a range of factors including the purity of Fijian cane which are determined by data drawn from cane growers, harvesters and lorry drivers, mill engineers, lab technicians and the Sugar Research Institute of Fiji.

Bainimarama says Fiji’s crushing season vary per mill, ranging from 24 to 26 weeks.

He says the Labasa Mill is in its ninth week of operations, Rarawai is in its seventh week and Lautoka has only been crushing for five weeks.

The Prime Minister says the majority of cane in Fiji is still out in the field, yet to be harvested, much less crushed.

Bainimarama says generally, total cane to total sugar begins high, improves mid-season and rises again during the later part of crushing.

He says the industry’s total cane to total sugar for 2020 season began at 13, it declined to 12.4 as at the end of July, measured at 11.8 as of the week ending 10th of August 2020 and improved further last week.

Bainimarama says rather than play pandemic politics with our sugar industry, Tikoduadua should show some patience.