Fiji interim government beset by calls for progress on biofuels as fuel prices soar

In Fiji, the Government has been asked to produce a report on the progress of biofuel development. The calls are prompted by the rising costs of gasoline, and the resulting pressure on transportation prices. The price of diesel has increased 43 percent since June 2005.

In October, Sugar Minister Mahendra Chaudhry said the country would concentrate on producing ethanol instead of making major investments in crop diversification. Recently, Citizen’s Constitutional Forum chief executive Reverend Akuila Yabaki said that “200,000 people in Fiji, depend on this industry in some way, and In the long-run, the reality is that the sugar industry will have to be phased out.”

The Sugar minister said that rising oil prices made ethanol an attractive alternative market for Fiji’s sugar industry.

Last September, US-based Avalor Capital was given the go-ahead to present financing plans for the $250 million Fiji Biofuels Project, which will develop the Fiji ethanol and biodiesel industries.

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