Sugarcane growers drawn from Chikhwawa, Salima, and Nkhotakota on Wednesday visited the parliament to meet with the Agriculture Committee of Parliament to inquire about the status of the Sugarcane bill.
The growers are advocating for the bill to be become a law, aiming to address challenges in the Sugarcane Industry.
In an interview with the chairperson of the sugarcane growers, Honorable Chimunthu Banda, expressed confidence that the bill’s passege, would resolve the industry’s challenges, primarily attributted to the absence of a regulatory framework.
Chimunthu mentioned that the bill’s processing dates back to June 2022, when officials from the Ministry of Agriculture presented it to the agriculture committee and subsequently the bill was submitted to the Ministry of Justice but there have no updates on the status of the bill since then.
On his part, Chairperson of the Agriculture Committee of Parliament Samer Suleman acknowledged meeting with officials from the Ministry of Agriculture who had drafted the sugarcane bill.
He expressed concern over the prolonged stagnation of the bill at the Ministry and mentioned they have requested officials from the Ministry of Agriculture to appear before them again to provide an update on the progress of the sugar bill and other legislative matters.