Trinis, Bajans to buy 47% of citrus company

In news from the Stann Creek Valley officials have confirmed that two international companies will be making significant investments in Belize’s citrus industry. A joint press release from the Belize Citrus Growers Association Investment Company and Citrus Products of Belize Limited indicates that two companies, one from Trinidad and the other from Barbados, will buy a forty seven percent interest in C.P.B.L. The purchase, believed to be in the neighbourhood of twenty five million Belize dollars, will be used to pay off a good chunk of the citrus company’s debt. During a phone conversation with the C.G.A.’s Bridget Cullerton, she declined to divulge any details of the deal, maintaining that the only thing that has been signed so far is an initial investment agreement. Cullerton says the particulars of the new partnership will be shared with the public when the transaction is consummated in less than a month. That ceremony is scheduled to take place in Belize. The citrus industry appears to be in its best health in over a decade as world market prices for both orange and grapefruit products have been pushed higher by declining production in Florida and other major suppliers.