Senators discuss ASR concession

In the House of Representatives on Wednesday, both the leader of the Opposition, Francis Fonseca and the Fort George Area representative, Said Musa, trashed Minister Godwin Hulse for yielding to a package of tax exemptions that the government is providing to Belize Sugar Industries as part of a sale to American Sugar Refinery. Hulse, who is a minister by virtue of his appointment as a senator, also sits on the board of B.S.I. According to the opposition, there is a conflict of interest and Hulse should otherwise be occupied with the shenanigans in his Immigration Ministry. This morning, in a longwinded and impassioned statement, Hulse replied in kind from the Senate floor when the Sugar Industry and Cogeneration Project bill came up for ratification.

Duane Moody, Reporting

In the House of Representatives, the Leader of the Opposition and Fort George Area Representative both took shots at Minister Godwin Hulse. At the start of the senate meeting today, the Leader of Government Business responded to the opposition’s claims that there is a conflict with his appointment on the Board.

Godwin Hulse

Senator Godwin Hulse, Leader of Government Business

“The idea was to support and that is why I said they can now get on with the business of growing cane with confidence and selling it to the factory. That is the business they are engaged in. It was never and I can never see how it could be condescending. Mister President, he said that, “he wanted to carry a brief for American Sugar Refining, but we are not surprised because the minister is also a member of the B.S.I. Board.” Yes, Mister President, the whole world knows that. I have been a member for fifteen years—through thick, through thin, through ups, through downs. I’ve worked effectively long before we talked about cogeneration when many members on the board was saying it time to get out of sugar; it is time to diversify; sugar was failing. This Minister of government today, also has a contract, I am told, hearsay, with B.S.I. for the sale of sugar. Yes, Mister President and colleagues, I’ve had that long before I was a minister of government; public knowledge. We began to sell rice, sugar, beans and flour below the control price without ration to all who have bought at that store. And I am here to tell you, Mister President, I have no idea how it is run because I put it in the hands of my daughter and her son and her husband.”

Collet Montejo

Collet Montejo, P.U.P. Senator

“Many individuals can’t get sugar as we speak and yes I listened as explanation was given in relation to sugar going across the border. But it is not a rumor anymore. As a matter of fact the last shipment of sugar that was intercepted by Guatemalan authorities indicated that it was closely related to a minister of government; whose name was mentioned by the driver as the individual sending the sugar. So, to stand in this honorable house and create this scenario as if though hey, hey, hey—no, no, no. Let’s be real with the Belizean people. Many sacks, tons and tons of sugar is going into Guatemala and it appears that even though it sounds as if though it should be illegal, these things are passing right through our Belize customs, going into Guatemala and creating a shortfall for many of us in the West. It is still unclear to me and I guess to many of our Belizeans what hat my learned colleague was actually wearing when this deal was struck. It is like B.S.I. or government—it is still fairly unclear.”

But the matter in front of the senate was with regards to the passing of the Sugar Industry and Cogeneration Project Bill. While several senators supported the bailout for the sugar industry, they had concerns.

Collet Montejo

“We understand that the industry needs to be bailed out; nobody is against that. It would be retarded to go against bailing out the industry. But it is also important and the farmers are saying, create a level playing field. Give us some of these opportunities that’s being given to ASR for us to continue to move forward.”

Noel Leslie

Rev. Fr. Noel Leslie, Senator for the Churches

“We must make sure that we are not taken for a ride down the road. Past experiences should ever make us be on guard to ensure that we are the winners and not the losers. Mister President, it’s good to give incentives and to grant concessions, but I think there are some concessions that should be more carefully studied.”

Mark Lizarraga

Mark Lizarraga, Senator for Business Sector

“The business community in principle supports especially investment that will provide long-term sustainable returns for the investor and Belize. What concerns us is that the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association is not fully in support of this bill. As we know, the cane farmers are, of course, necessary and a vital part of this industry for it to move forward.”

Senator Hulse says there was consultation with the farmers and repeated that they should be focused on cane production.

Godwin Hulse

“2011, they came on the scene and first they were not interested at all—they said we have to do due diligence, we have to do this, we don’t like the payment arrangements (sixty-five – thirty-five) blah blah blah. And we negotiated, negotiated, negotiated and ultimately they decided that this could work. They did thorough due diligence, engineering, accounting, everything. And that brought us to this point. They have come to Belize; they have met with cane farmers. I sat in the meeting when Mister Aban, the Chairman, and Mister Fred Ortega and Mister Oscar Alonso and all the leaders of the Cane Farmers Association sat in a meeting in the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry Conference Room on Coney Drive across from the table with ASR Representatives: Armando Tabarnia, the Chairman, Ricardo Lima, Mister Jonathan Bamberger, the Prime Minsiter was there, honorable Gaspar Vega, DPM was there; I was there, the honorable Hugo Patt was there. And the room was open for every single question. And Mister Aban shed his tears and said thank god. And then I hear they were not consulted? I begin to check if I have all-timers. ASR told the cane farmers, told Mister Aban, Mister Ortega, Mister Alonzo and all the other colleagues that were there, including Mister Cervantes; that they will raise the price on closing to four twenty five a ton Euros which will bring ninety Euros a ton more into the country for the price of sugar and they will keep that through to 2015. The famers will get two-thirds of that price—do the math—it is about sixty- dollars a ton of sugar more.”

And at 12:40 p.m. the bill was passed in the Senate: nine in favor for the bill, two against and one absent. Duane Moody for News Five.