PUP and UDP agree to bail out Sugar industry with $10 Million
john briceno
There was a special sitting today and there was genuine progress in the House of Representatives. All members of the Peoples United Party and the government agreed on a loan of ten million dollars to bail out Belize Sugar Industries Limited. The cold cash will provide working capital for meeting the outstanding third payment to cane farmers in respect of the 2010 crop season, and for operational capital and factory refurbishment. While the National Assembly voted in unison, the personalities still crashed. After Leader of the Opposition gave his view on the state of the sugar industry, the Deputy Prime Minister shouted back using unparliamentarily language.
John Briceño, Leader of the Opposition
“On Monday the eighteen January 2010 we said we were concerned about the escalating problems in the sugar industry. The PUP is calling on the government to engage with all the stakeholders in the sugar industry to find meaningful solutions to the problems confronting the industry. Simply to point out, there is no excuse for PM to come to cane farmers and said he was unaware. He is the minister of finance, he is the Prime Minister. He is supposed to be fully aware, and fully engaged as to what is happening in one of our most important industries in our country. And he finally realized the severity of the problem when the management of B.S.I. met with him. We have about fifty thousand people in the north that depends directly on the sugar industry; about twenty percent of our foreign currency is derived from the sugar industry. We give about almost four percent of GDP Mister Speaker so that is why it is very important that we do whatever is possible to rescue sugar industry. The ten million dollars is a band-aid—it’s only for a short-term. It is a much bigger problem than that. I think the Deputy Prime Minister shoulda listen for once Mister Speaker because he know about other business but he noh know about cane. Other business he could give you the entire details—business that he no report. So let’s not go down that road.”
Gaspar Vega, Deputy Prime Minister
gaspar vega
“I want to inform him, if he doesn’t know that his father is the biggest debtor of the sugar cane association. And he has been owing for many years and the loan has not had any activity for many years; therefore there is no plan of paying back that loan. If he had a little bit of compassion for the cane farmers, he just collected so many millions of dollars, pay yoh daddy loan Johnny. It doesn’t matter how much money he invest in information, radio, television, people know yoh bloody liad. Mister Speaker, I want to tell you that I am committed to this industry.”
Said Musa
“Mister Speaker, on a point of order, I have sat here patiently listening to noise from the gallery and now from the Deputy Prime Minister to be uttering words which are totally unparliamentarily and nothing is being said, I really object Mister Speaker and I wish you would make a ruling on this matter.”
Emil Arguelles, Speaker of the House
“Honorable Member for Fort George thank you. Honorable Deputy Prime Minister I agree that reference to the leader of the opposition by his first name is not allowed and some of the language you have used borders on…”
Gaspar Vega
“Mister Speaker I apologize, but I want to make sure that you recognize that the word sin verguenza only means shameless—that’s not any obscene language.”
said musa
Said Musa, Fort George Area Rep.
“You have to produce co-generation as well. That is why we supported BELCOGEN. With the bagasse, we expect you to get that done. We have done our part, now you have to do your part. So Mister Speaker, with all these developments that took place, the bottom-line is that today—we’re speaking perhaps dibbly and lightly right now, but it is a very serious matter we are dealing with. The truth of the matter is that today, the industry is facing a very serious financial crisis and it has nothing to do with the assistance that it had or lack thereof that it got from the then PUP government. What I am trying to show Mister Speaker is that the record shows that tremendous assistance was given to the industry but the industry is so important that we have to continue to give it this support. And that is why we are supporting the motion today.”
The ten million dollars loan is for five years including a grace period on principal repayment of one year. The interest rate is seven point five percent per annum on the declining balance. It will be disbursed in two payments of three point two million and six point eight million dollars by the end of the year. The collateral is sixty-nine point twelve acres land at mile five on the Western Highway.
Nice to see that we can have some bipartisan agreements in the house but these guys need to have some respect when they are in the house even if they don’t have respect for themselves, as for the issue with BSI I think that they need to get their act together if they are to remain a viable industry in the country as there can be nothing viable when you continually needs to be bailed out it’s not like they are new to this business they should be able to see all the stops.
So sad to see how one of our most important industry is just swept under the rug! Our canefarmers are the most hardworking people in Belize and damn to just totally disregard the sugar industry to the point of allowing it to die out!! Total ridicule to the canefarmers and the people of the North! If the sugar industry dies out the northern districts better prepare for the worst state of poverty it will ever be in. God Bless Belize and our canefarmers!!!
Its not over yet. It seems that the banks do not want to allow BSI to borrow from elsewhere, and hence no waivers. When this thing gets resolved i hope the big earners At the Association and BSI get levelled off. They are the ones tthat are taking this industry to the ground. They feed off the fat and the true workers have to scramble for a living.
The RED need to learn to have respect for the House and the positions they hold…. Probably won’t happen, but they should try… It is a disgrace the way they act…
Finally after so much time the PM puts some interest on the canefarming industry. We at the north wouldnt have wanted another incident like the one with Anastacio Gutierres for the PM to get the message. I heard the sitting of the house for almost 3 hours, only to hear a “MAYBE” at the end of the seating. So we caneros cannot say the Government had helped as ye.
IT’S BETTER THAN SPENDING MONEY ON BTL…………………..
When I watched the canjeros storm the BSI compound, and remove the core sampler, I knew they were committing suicide to their industry. While I agree that the government should help, I hope they put some serious mechanisims in place so the industry can stand on its own feet over the long run, enough bail outs, time to learn to become competitive.
This story is so blatantly slanted, no amount of “benefit of the doubt” can help it. First of all, I thought that the government of Belize is a UDP administration. Like it or not, they are the legitimately elected representatives of this country; and yet it is the PUP that get mentioned first in the Title and it is the PUP position that is posited from start to finish. No attempt is made to present the Government’s position even though the very title trumpets a success for bipartisanship – notwithstanding the top billing given to the opposition (and their very small minority in the House). In any case, if I was a PUP I would also be concerned that the PUP Leader is once again playing second fiddle to the magnanimous and statesmanlike former PUP leader. This all leads me to one conclusion: this is propaganda, unclothed and unapologetic.
I have a bag of money hanging in the roof, a big bag very full of money, real dollars. An alligator passed by and sniffed at the bag, another alligator passed by and not only sniffed but gave the bag a bite and tore the bag of money. Now the money fell out of the torn bag, and my uncle is trowing money into the bag, a lot of money trying to fill it again. But the problem with my uncle is that he did not mend the bag, money is still falling out and the alligators are just having fun chewing at it. Of course if my uncle gets ten million it may cover all the alligators with money but it will still not solve the problem of that torn bag, maybe yes eh? Throw in money fools, and think that maladministration is solved by throwing in millions!!!
Hi West,
Indeed, suicide was being committed. The farmers are not idiots and uneducated people, that was my grandfather. My brother and his fellow farmers are well educated people and are aware of such things. See the real problem to all this was how the core sampler was implemented. There are books written on how to implement a project. There is a process of dailogue, education and consensus that needs to be put in place. If these things are put in place then the probability of success is great.
You just can’t put something into practice tomorrow and expect it to be ok. That is very disrespectful. They all know that they have to be more effective. No body is takes into consideration when BSI breaks continously and farmer’s have thousands of tons of sugar cane on the ground. Anyways, before anybody gives more opinion. I suggest for you guys to go and talk to cane farmers and then formulate your opinion. Don’t do like Mr Hulse, his information comes from BSI directors. Who have CV and great experiences in their respective jobs. In other word, what he is trying to say farmers are idiots and they don’t know what they are doing.
They later stole all the hydraulic parts from the sampler, never to be used again.
$1.2 million down the drain.
Now the industry is folding. Four years of losing millions from poor quality cane. This year it took 12.9 tons of cane to make a black pound of sugar. Ten years ago, it was 8.5 tons. At 1.1 million tons cane, you do the math and see how much revenues are lost each year. $32 million dollars. Farmers lose 65% of that opportunity. Then they protest against low cane prices!
Both parties have to fix up, and work as an efficient business.
‘I agree I don’t know what took so long to GOB to approve the $10 million to BSI,and could approve rite away the $50 million loan from SSB to BTL {barrow telemedia ltd}…its a shame for this governemnt,-thank God it did not got worst like when the riot occured on February 08′ and 1 cane farmer was murdered by DEAN BARROW’S security forces police\BDF …that could have been prevented when the canefarmers requested a meeting with the PM and he refused to talk to them.. because he was just intrested in going to get married abroad{Georgia USA}at that time’-the only thing dean barrow said in national radio is his arrogant language “IF I HAVE TO DO IT AGIAN ,I WILL DO IT AGIAN!!!! I REPEAT THAT IS NOT MY INDUSTRY,I REPEAT THAT IS NOT MY INDUSTRY !! ,,,if he could have met before when the canefarmer got murdered nothing of this could have happend…and it will not be forgotten by thousands of canefarmers\Belizeans of the north. AT LEAST about 50,000 cane farmers and families would benefit from the $10 million dollars ,and about the $50 milllion loan that SOCIAL SECURITY LOANED BTL only dean barrow\lois young barrow and other cronies will benefit.’