Strike continues, losses mounting in sugar industry
Financial losses to the sugar industry continue to grow and today, four days after violence erupted and one man was killed near its compound, the Belize Sugar Industries finally broke its silence. Their response came in the form of a three-page press release issued to media houses and appearing in the printed press. The company says it felt it important to comment and clarify some of the issues being covered in the media and also calls for a resolution as “any further delay in processing the 2009 crop will prove irreversible to the financial health of all stakeholders.”
Regarding the farmers’ bone of contention, the core sampler, BSI says the machine is controlled by the Sugar Cane Quality Control Authority on behalf of the Sugar Industry Control Board and it simply accepts the analysis given and makes payments accordingly. B.S.I. reports that in the first seven weeks of the current crop, six hundred and thirty-eight farmers, representing thirty-five percent of the number of farmers, has been paid by quality. Fifty-two percent of them were paid within two dollars of the average price, thirty percent receive payments two dollars above the average and eighteen percent below the two percent average; which was not unexpected. As for the farmers’ concerns that the core sampler gives varied readings for the same crop, B.S.I. says it is difficult to comment without knowing the particular circumstance under which the cane was harvested and delivered and contends that the S.I.C.B. already had plans in place to process complaints and for a continuous review of the system. In addition, it says that the system would have been fully audited and fine tuned before it was full activated.
The company says that Belize has already established a reputation as being a reliable supplier of raw sugar, but this was being tarnished by the reduction in cane quality over the years. A commitment to improve the cane quality and base payment on that was the basis for which the country secured a long-term contract and received financing which enables them to pay farmers on delivery of cane. The release also criticizes the Cane Farmers’ Association for backtracking on its own agreement on Friday and it is “not proper for the B.S.C.F. leaders to say that they have exhausted all attempts at negotiation when all efforts to date have been frustrated by their insistence and demands that is not in sync with the industry plans for survival and growth.” B.S.I. warns that the increasing quantity of poor quality cane will produce losses all around and could initiate a very rapid closure of the mill and the devastation of northern Belize.
The Tower Hill factory has been closed since Monday. And while they have not been grinding any cane, a ship remains in port waiting to be loaded. This morning B.S.I. called a meeting with its employees to address the strike. We are told that during the assembly the viability of the company was discussed with the workers. There are also reports that casual workers have been laid off, but we have been unable to confirm whether that is the case. The industry continues to hemorrhage with every passing day and it is not known if any negotiations are taking place between farmers and BSI. Sugar exportation has declined in the past years. Also in respect of finances, it is known that one of the conditions for credit from the bankers was tied to quality and this is an area that is posing a particular challenge at this time.
