Has the Labasa mill started crushing again?

from w
It is shameful that the trucks full of sugarcane have to wait eight or nine days. If the sugar industry is to survive the mills must be in perfect working condition. The farmers work very hard for little money and times like this are even harder for them.
from Fiji Village yesterday:
Labasa Mill to resume crushing (perhaps?)
Thursday, October 30, 2008

The Labasa Mill is expected to resume crushing today after an eight-day breakdown, but that will not stop farmers’ representatives from pursuing the matter further.

The National Farmers Union has written to the Divisional Commissioner Northern on the performance of the Labasa mill.

NFU secretary Surendra Lal says they have asked for a meeting of sugar industry stakeholders in Labasa.

Lal says the continuous mill breakdown and disruptions in crushing has led to a drop in the number of quotas being issued and insufficient and irregular supply of rail carts to harvesting gangs and farmers have to incur extra cost of providing food to cutters in order to retain them in camps.

Meanwhile, the Sugar Cane Growers Council Director Jwala Prasad says the mill will crush all the dumped 500 tonnes or so cane before it will start to crush the cane still loaded on trucks.

He says the 8 – 14 days old cane is not suitable to produce sugar and FSC has said they will try and make some sugar out of this burnt cane and the rest will be used to make molasses.