Henry Canton threatens to fire 105 citrus workers

henry canton

Last week, the court ruled against a declaration sought by the Citrus Growers Association to enforce the termination of Dr. Henry Canton as C.E.O. for Citrus Products of Belize Limited.  That decision put a spoke in the wheels of the C.G.A. and today it sent out a release exposing an alleged plan by Canton to terminate over a hundred and five C.P.B.L. employees at the start of the 2011/2012 crop year.  The release says that last Thursday, a concept paper on that plan to close the C.C.B. processing plant was revealed during a meeting of the Pound Solids Committee. According to the release, a member of the C.G.A. Committee of Management who doubles as a Director of C.P.B.L. told the meeting that both the association and its subsidiary, the Investment Company Ltd, should have been consulted. The C.G.A. also calls on the Government to protect the jobs of the C.P.B.L. workers and by extension the future of the citrus industry. When we contacted Canton today, he said he was not fully apprised of the release but expressed dismay that an internal document had been ventilated by a director. Canton also said that because of low production efficiency would be improved with one plant.