[Photo: File]

The Sugar Cane Growers Fund recorded 157 mortgage sales over the past six years, mostly involving old debts.

Chief Executive Raj Sharma says 68 accounts were fully cleared following the mortgage sales, while 18 were partly settled.

He says the Fund wrote off other loans after continued recovery efforts.

The Fund has since strengthened its recovery process through automated text alerts, field visits and follow-ups during the harvesting period.

Borrowers are generally given up to 18 months to repay their loans.

The Fund is also facing questions over its four-million-dollar commercial property investment in Lautoka.
Committee Member Premilla Kumar questioned whether the property was independently valued before purchase and whether the Fund had an investment policy.

Sharma says the property was independently valued at $4.6 million and is now worth $4.7 million.

He says it is fully tenanted and generates about 250-thousand dollars in annual rental income.

The rental income and other savings have helped the Fund reduce its lending rate from six percent to 3.95 percent, returning almost 500-thousand dollars to farmers.

The Fund has also saved about 100-thousand dollars a year by acquiring its own premises.

Kumar welcomed the investment strategy but stressed that independent valuations should be completed before properties are purchased to strengthen transparency.

The committee also questioned a one-million-dollar debt swap involving land acquired from the Fiji Sugar Corporation.

Sharma says the transaction was based on the property’s valuation and helped ease the corporation’s debt burden.

He says the Fund continues to provide financing for cane payments and other industry needs, backed by Government guarantees.

Assistant Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Sakiusa Tubuna says future investments and reforms must align with the Government’s wider strategy for the sugar industry.

He says reforms should be coordinated, while farmers also need stronger access to finance through Government and other agencies.

The team appeared before the Standing Committee on Social Affairs.