Papuan Sugar

Why is New Industry Being Retarded?

ABOUT five years ago, a small group of Papuan residents and Queensland sugar cane-growers formed a company known as Sangara Sugar Estates, Ltd., and secured from the Government of Papua a lease of 20,000 acres of land situated 15 miles inland from Buna Bay, on the north eastern coast of Papua, for the purpose of growing sugarcane, and, if it proved satis factory for this purpose, to erect a factory for the production of raw sugar (says Sydney Morning Herald).

The company felled and cleared 50 acres of dense scrub land, planting out both indigenous and Badilla canes —the latter being imported from Queensland.

Records of the plant and ratoon crops of each variety of cane have been care fully kept, and the results fully justified the confidence of the members of the company that raw sugar can be produced in Papua in competition with any sugar producing country in the world.

To date £12,000 has been expended by the company in experimental work, and the stage has now been reached where the erection of a modern factory is justi fied. Negotiations have been entered into with oversea capital which is interested in the manufacture of sugar in other dominions, who lately sent out an expert to inspect the property, and his report is most favourable. There seems little doubt that with the assistance of the Federal Government at the forthcoming conference of representatives of sugar

producing countries, to be held in Lon don, in obtaining a quota for Empire sugar for Papua, a sugar factory would be erected. The capital required for this undertaking, which would include, in addition to a modern factory, a wharf at Buna Bay, railway, etc., would amount to approximately £400,000. Visualising what the establishment of the sugar in dustry would mean in employment of natives, increased revenue, etc., those in control of Papua have given the members of Sangara Sugar Estates all the help possible during the period the experi ments have been carried out.

The above statement was obtained in an interview with Mr. C. G. Rutledge, who is an original shareholder in Sangara Sugar Estates. Mr. Rutledge stated that the members of the company are very disap pointed with the lack of interest so far displayed by the Commonwealth Gov ernment in the work done by the com pany. In spite of the fact that the Papuan Government was kept fully advised of all that has been done, and the oversea expert referred to has confirmed the company’s statement of production costs, which com pare more than favourably with any other sugar-producing country, the present Minister for External Affairs (Sir George Pearce) states that sugar cannot be grown commercially in Papua, and there fore should be discouraged. It would be interesting to know on whose authority Sir George based his opinion. Mr. Rut ledge stated that it appeared difficult to reconcile the attitude on the part of the Minister for External Affairs with the ex pressions of other members of the Fede ral Cabinet, who have more than once stated publicly that if Australia and its dependencies are not soon utilised to their best advantage, then our right to them will end.