Copra For Fiji

Report Plans More And Better Copra For Fiji

From a Suva Correspondent Lord Silsoe’s report on the Fiji copra industry has been re

ceived with general resignation,

and some degree of hope, by the

people of Fiji.

IT is recognised by all classes that some control of the industry is necessary, if only to put an end to the sniping that has gone on in recent years between the European growers, who produce a fairly good grade of copra, and the Carpenter interests, who have been buying most of Fiji’s production for milling in Fiji. The price paid by the millers, of course, is the bone of contention.

The European growers have insisted that they are not getting the price they think they have a right to expect; whereas the millers, under an unwritten obligation to handle most of the copra produced in Fiji, have to accept some very bad copra indeed —especially the stuff that comes from the less instructed Fiji villages.

Lord Silsoe—as was to be expected after the success of his sugar industry inquiry—has made a real effort to bridge the difference between the interests concerned, with the general object of establishing the Fiji copra industry as a sound Fijian industry alternative to sugar.

Fair Report

On the whole, he has laid out the picture very fairly in his report, and his recommendations appear mostly as wise and practicable. But a heavy responsibility now falls upon the proposed new Copra Board, and especially upon the shoulders of the chairman, Mr. H. G. Nicholls.

Mr. Nicholls is well and favourably known in Fiji as a high executive in the service of the Colonial Sugar Refining Company—now, in Fiji, called Pacific Sugar Mills Ltd. One criticism is that Mr. Nicholls, as a man prominently associated with the CSR Co., may take the view of the big trading corporations rather than that of the small producer.

But that is not consistent with the (Continued on p. 68)

Continued From P. 57

well-known character of Mr. Nicholls; and the majority of people here feel that his selection for the key position is good, and gives considerable promise of peace and progress in the industry.

It is, of course, not a full-time job as far as Mr. Nicholls is con cerned—he retains his important post with the CSR. But he is regarded as an experienced and practical businessman, with a judicial mind and a fair understanding of the problems of both producers and millers.

The reaction of the millers —the Carpenter group of companies—has been more friendly than was expected. They will co-operate with the producers and the Copra Board in an attempt to make the Silsoe scheme work. This probably is because Lord Silsoe—very wisely—discussed every angle of Fiji’s copra problems with the millers (who are also substantial investors in the Colony) before he wrote his report.

The cynics in Fiji—and there are plenty of them —greeted one aspect of the report with the expected re mark: “Well, here we have another board and another series of com mittees”. Certainly, in a Colony of less than half a million people, there already are no less than 173 boards and committees, set up more or less as official instrumentalities to assist in the task of government.

Lord Silsoe clearly has given a lot of thought to the most important problem of all—namely, that of how to produce higher grades of copra, so that the Fiji product generally will command better prices, and thus encourage more enterprise and initiative in the Fiji industry.

The industry’s biggest handicap has been the poor quality of copra com ing from Fijian producers.

The new report strongly urges that native co-operative societies and similar groups of growers be en couraged to sell their coconuts

directly to professional copra-dryers; and the latter, of course, as part of government policy, will be assisted to install suitable plants and processes, so that they may get the best possible price when, in turn, they sell to the millers or exporters.

It will be the policy of the Copra Board to encourage production of better grades of copra, and Lord Silsoe anticipates that, with the co operation of the millers, the pro ducers might expect an average of

from £2 to £3 per ton more than they get now.

The Silsoe copra report and its recommendations fit neatly into the Fiji Government’s plans for develop ment; and, if the Copra Board’s policies work—and there is no apparent reason why they should not —an impetus should be given to the general plan of planting up new areas in coconuts, and of refreshing—by new care and replanting—the existing plantations.