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BY BRUCE RUSSELL
At the time of going to press sugar cane farmers, transporters and mill workers were waiting with trepidation for an announcement from the State Government.
Some pundits believed the State Government would come up with a package that included Maryborough Sugar, local growers and a reopening of expressions of interest for Ord Stage II.
The reopening of expressions of interest would be to allow Maryborough Sugar to get a toehold in Stage II to allow it to own land for sugar cropping in conjunction with mill operation in partnership with Ord growers.
Some farmers said this would be a travesty and only hold up Stage II.
The selection of three possible proponents from the field of initial expressions of interest was supposed to be completed by the end of last month, but Agriculture Minister Kim Chance continues to pontificate about the sugar industry and the impact on Stage II.
His government's failure to act on removing the moratorium on GM cotton would seem to be another example of a government hell bent on restricting its capital expenditure to Perth and surrounds.
Hopefully, by the time this edition hits the streets, the State Government will have put in place a package that will ensure the mill stays in the Ord Valley for the possible future production of ethanol and provision of additional power to supplement the hydro.
If the government fails to act, Korean-owned CJ Ord will move the mill to Indonesia.
CJ's deadline for growers to come up with an alternative offer was tomorrow (Friday).
On Wednesday, the future was looking bleak as the mill was laying off staff, despite a $500,000 offer from growers to fund their wages until the matter was resolved.
Add to this some 'poaching' of staff by other sugar interests and the possibility of having a team in place to begin crushing was starting to look slim.
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