Sugarcane Farmers Voice Concern Over PM’s Sudden Takeover of Sugar Industry Talks

The Belize Sugarcane Farmers Association (BSCFA) has raised major concerns with the Prime Minister John Briceno’s decision to take over dealing with the sugar industry. Last week, the Prime Minister announced on a local media station that he would take over from Agriculture Minister Jose Mai and put Minister of State Dr. Osmond Martinez in charge of the day-to-day operations. The BSCFA took umbrage with the fact that this decision was taken after an emergency meeting with Belize Sugar Industries (ASR/BSI). The association called out an apparent double standard, noting that ASR/BSI complained about past government interventions in favor of the cane farmers. Alfredo Ortega, Chairman of the BSCFA, says farmers are concerned that the company seems to have influenced Cabinet appointments, and they are left wondering what’s next.

Alfredo Ortega, Chairman, BSCFA: “He said that he had to travel to Miami to speak with the owners of ASR because they were not happy with how the industry has been evolving here in Belize. And that is why we  are concerned about it because we don’t know  what compromise the prime minister went to do there where he gave the impression that he went to save the industry talking to these people over there. But on what grounds  he went to save the industry. Because as we speak  and  as the chairman of the BSCFA, we have not been creating problems to dismantle the industry. What we have been doing is trying to negotiate a better agreement where the trust between us the farmers and the millers and the government and any person involved or any group involved can grow where we can work in harmony and work together so that this industry can  not only survive, but to continue for the future of our children, our grandchildren and for Belize.”

According to Ortega, while the association doesn’t have anything personal against Dr. Martinez, they feel that he is inexperienced in the nuances of the sugar industry and believe Mai was a better fit.

Alfredo Ortega, Chairman, BSCFA: “We don’t have anything against Dr. Martinez, not even the Prime Minister. The thing is that we have seen that Minister Mai has been very diligently working to see that the sugar industry transforms into an industry that is  beneficial to all of us. And I wouldn’t use only cane farmers because it’s a transformation to the industry, which the benefit would be for all involved within the industry. We don’t know if he will reverse or what, but what we want, we wanted to have very clear on what we would want to see in his new government. We thought that the Minister of Agriculture will continue supporting the sugar industry under his arm. Nevertheless, he has removed that from him and he is the one in charge now for it as he rightly said. So what we want to see is that well, the movement, the negotiation, the commission of inquiry report and everything that entails within the industry, we want to know if there would be a continuous support for the modernization of the sugar industry act and also a betterment to the industry where cane farmers, producers and the mill can work in a trustworthy way where we can see benefits on both sides.”

The BSCFA, which is the largest cane farmer association in the country, is hoping to have a meeting with the Prime Minister and Dr. Martinez as early as possible to discuss the future of the industry.