PM Briceño Comments on Sugar Industry Act Ruling

Prime Minister John Briceño

At the start of the week, the High Court made several rulings against the Sugar Industry Act. The court deemed certain features of the legislation as unconstitutional. The Attorney General and the Ministry of Agriculture have been reviewing the court’s ruling to determine exactly how it will impact the industry going forward. Today, Prime Minister Briceño hinted at some changes that will be made to the administrative structure of the industry. Here is what he told us.

Prime Minister John Briceño

“That is a tough one; I have not gotten a full briefing, but the attorney general with the ministry of agriculture in trying to get a full understanding. It is kinda not too very clear so I don’t want to comment too much on it more than anything else, the sugar industry has been one of the most successful industry that Belize has where it has created a fairly large middle income class in this country so we need to do everything possible to protect the industry, by that I have always said, protect the farmer, protect the country, cause they are joined at the hip. We need both to be able to have a successful industry. How we are going to move forward? Well we need to find a way to ensure that the farmers rights are protected at all times but at the same time ensure we can find the funds to operate the different departments or divisions. I don’t want to give a name at this particular time because they might have to change to ensure the sugar industry can continue to thrive to be able to grow and expand.”