Leader of the Opposition says B.S.I.’s financial trouble puts entire industry at risk

There is still no word on when the Belize Sugar Industries will be able to make the third payment to cane farmers for the crop year. In the House today, the Leader of the Opposition, John Briceño, noted that the gravity of situation has caught everyone’s attention except the government. Instead, GOB’s focus has been on investing in Telemedia and securing tax deductions for the company while farmers struggle to make ends meet. B.S.I.’s financial trouble puts the entire industry at risk because according to Briceño, starting the next crop year requires millions of dollars. He says government needs to step in to avoid the downfall of a key industry.

John Briceño, Leader of the Opposition

john briceno

“B.S.I., for them to start the crop they need twenty-six million dollars. They have asked Social Security for a loan for ten million dollars. I am told that Social Security has approved the loan but there are some technical difficulties that they are having because of previous loan agreements that they have. Now I can appreciate that but the government has a moral responsibility and legal responsibility to the cane farmers of the north. We cannot, not have a sugar crop next year because if we do not have a sugar crop it is not only the north that is going to go down and to crash, but it is going to drag down the rest of the country.  In 2006, the sugar industry brought in revenues of over a hundred and nine million dollars. but it has been going down and this year in 2010 it has gone down to seventy point eight million dollars. That’s a major drop of cane that was being paid for at sixty dollars and seventy-three cents a ton now to a new low of forty-five dollars and twenty-eight cents. Our people are struggling in the north. You’re talking about selling shares in B.T.L. at a subsidized rate? People in the north won’t be able to buy it, the cane farmers don’t have the money. They are trying to get money to buy tires for their trucks; dehn noh di worry bout buying no shares in B.T.L. This money that the prime minister is giving up to B.T.L. could be used to start the sugar crop with the cane farmers in the north. I mean the sugar industry represents three point four percent of GDP. There are over six thousand cane farmers, over fifty thousand Belizeans in the north depend directly on the sugar industry and yet the prime minister will tell you it is more important for us to help B.T.L. In five years with these tax reductions, he is giving B.T.L. another forty-seven point seven million dollars. This is immoral that we are going to give one of the most profitable companies in Belize all these tax breaks when we have so many problems.”

We’ll have more on the House Meeting later in the newscast.