Julius Espat Says Be Careful with Santander

Julius Espat

Cayo South area rep Julius Espat provided an alternative view focusing on the economic development provided by Santander in his area. He notes that farmers in the Cayo District have been providing cane to the Santander factory for their sugar, and many more are employed to harvest and produce, so he is more cautious about ascribing blame. Any decision against the factory, he says, must take into account who else could be affected.

Julius Espat, Area Representative, Cayo South

“In the west Santander has invested – not only Santander’s principals, but they now have local Belizean investors going up to thirty percent. And so we have to be careful whenever we make a decision about any company and we have to analyze it in the general terms. Santander – the way it works in the West is a lot of farmers are supplying cane to them, meaning if I have a hundred acres I can plant the cane and they will accept the product and so that has helped a lot of the landowners in Cayo South, not necessarily just people working the fields, and we also have a lot of people working the fields. To be able to determine if they are national Belizeans or immigrants, I don’t know; that is an analysis that we have to make. The problem in that area is that people don’t go to the details to determine if they are residents or nationals, they just assume certain things and we have to be careful when we say that. I know a lot of people in Cayo South for example, specifically the Valley of Peace work there; I know that a lot of people from Benque, for example, work there, I know of people coming from as far as the south to work there. And it has helped our area, it has brought an influx and money is circulating more; it has helped the local economy. So I don’t know the details; I think deputy Mai knows more of the details than I do; but now that it has been asked I will have to do more investigation to find out the reality is.”