Deputy Leader Parveen Bala Condemns Sugar Minister’s Eviction Threats

Deputy Leader Hon. Parveen Bala has strongly condemned what he calls an “outrageous and irresponsible” statement by Minister for Sugar Charan Jeath Singh, who recently threatened sugarcane farmers with eviction if they fail to produce a certain tonnage of cane.

Bala criticized Singh’s additional remarks, in which the Minister urged so-called “absentee farmers” to surrender their leases. He stated that this exposes the government’s reckless disregard for the lives and livelihoods of thousands of Fijians dependent on the sugar industry.

“This is not just an attack on farmers—it is an attack on entire families, on children whose futures are now uncertain, on communities that have been built over generations, and on the very foundations of our agricultural economy,” Bala said.

He warned that such threats do not only affect farmers but also disrupt children’s education, family stability, and community cohesion.

Bala has called on the government to immediately withdraw Minister Singh’s statement and provide firm assurances that no farmer will be forcibly removed from their land.

“The people of Fiji are suffering under the weight of bad governance, poor economic management, and now threats to their very homes and livelihoods,” Bala said, affirming that the opposition stands firmly with farmers and all hardworking citizens who, he claims, are being abandoned and betrayed by those in power.