ASR Officials Meet with P.M. Barrow, Sugar Impasse Unresolved

At two-thirty today, officials from A.S.R. and B.S.I. met with Prime Minister Dean Barrow and Deputy Prime Minister Gaspar Vega at the PM’s office at Whitfield Tower in Belize City. The meeting was called so Prime Minister Dean Barrow could convey the B.S.C.F.A.’s last position to the company. That position is a decidedly more flexible one than what was first proposed by the B.S.C.F.A.’s negotiating team. The final sticking point was the payment for bagasse and on that the farmers had folded agreeing to accept fifty-one cents for a period of three years. At about four this afternoon, all parties left the building. While we can say with certainty that nobody was cheerful and dancing a jig, or even smiling, that’s all we know. Other than that, nobody’s talking, though B.S.I. sources have stated unofficially that the meeting was, quote unquote, productive. Just before news time, we have been unofficially informed that there is meeting between the third parties at the Radisson at ten a.m. on Friday. This will be followed by an announcement.