SUVA, Fiji (August 19, 1997 - PACNEWS)---Fiji's sugar industry, as a result of the recent 16-day strike by mill workers over safety and wage issues, is losing thousands of dollars a day in penalty payments because of delayed sugar shipments.
Fiji Sugar Marketing, Limited's Managing Director, John May, says two sugar ships now in Fiji have been unable to sail, waiting for the reactivated mills to process sufficient sugar to permit full shipments.
The Hanet Sky, due to leave the western Viti Levu port of Lautoka shortly with 19,000 tons of sugar bound for the United States, already has been delayed 10 days, at a penalty cost of $6,800 a day.
A second sugar ship, the Portugal bound Kritika Naree, which arrived last Thursday, is expected to be delayed another two weeks, incurring a penalty of $2,700 a day.