CANACONA
Blaming the State government for arbitrarily closing down the Sanjivani Sugar Factory, sugarcane farmers in Canacona have called for an inquiry into the sugarcane cultivated by farmers in the State.
Addressing a news conference in the presence of other sugarcane farmers in Canacona, Pernem-based sugarcane farmer and member of the Sanjivani Facilitation Committee Prashant Purushottam Gauns Dessai said they want the government to hold a thorough inquiry into where sugarcane produced by Goa’s farmers in 2017-18 have gone.
“We want a thorough inquiry into where tonnes of sugarcane produced by sugarcane farmers had gone. Permission was taken to transport Goa’s sugarcane produce to one factory, but how did this sugarcane reach another factory? How did the sugarcane reach Maharashtra factories and who sent it?” asked Gauns Dessai.
According Gauns Dessai, 956 sugarcane farmers in the State had cultivated 759 hectares with 49,541 tonnes of sugarcane (2017-18), which included 84 sugarcane farmers cultivating 55 hectares with an output of 2,974 metric tones in Canacona.
“Of the 198 farmers, only few got some of the money while others did not get anything. Many of these sugarcane farmers hail from Canacona, Sanguem, Darbondora and Quepem talukas. We want to know how much money had been given to how many farmers, and how many are not given any money.”
Flanked by Canacona farmer Dayanand Phaldessai and another farmer who is son of late Zilu Monu Gaonkar (ex-director of Sanjivani Sugar factory), Gauns Dessai blamed the government for failing to take control of the factory and said no one was willing to take the initiative to restore the factory.
“The government has arbitrarily shut down the Sanjivani Sugar Factory, leaving sugarcane farmers unemployed. Our cultivation was reduced to waste, and to top it all, this government has attempted to cheat farmers.”
“The government should investigate this sugarcane scam. Every sugarcane farmer is registered along with the area and survey numbers cultivated. How did one facilitation member turn a contractor and transport the sugarcane illegally? Who authorised the person to harvest the cultivation? Only a vigilance inquiry will be able to throw light on this scam.”
When asked if any complaint had been lodged with the Director of Agriculture, Gauns Dessai they were yet to do so.
“However, we have submitted everything to the government and are awaiting a report from the government, we will meet the governor and we are also prepared to meet Chief Minister Pramod Sawant.”
“As of now, we have not even given a complaint to the agriculture department, we are just alerting sugarcane farmers by holding news conferences,” he added.
