When will the milling at the B.S.I. factory at Tower Hill resume? It is all dependent on the weather conditions – and the rains brought on by the weekend cold front aren’t promising. But this afternoon, Minister of Agriculture Jose Mai says that it is expected to restart on Thursday or by the weekend. Last […]
While milling is to resume within the next few days, Agriculture Minister Jose Mai does not believe that the hundreds of thousands of sugar cane still in the fields will make it to the mills in time. Here’s how he explains it. Jose Mai, Minister of Agriculture “Last year the crop shrunk by thirty […]
Today, News Five’s reporter Duane Moody and cameraman Kenroy Michael headed north to the sugar belt to highlight an issue that has cost the government millions of dollars annually. While it is expected that the sugar roads are in poor condition at this time of year due to the yearly rains, this year, it is […]
Today our news team found acres of sugar cane still underwater, and with a forecast for more rain to come on Friday, conditions are not favourable for harvesting. The problem is that typically drenched cane fields equate to high mud content. Industrial Operations Superintendent for the Milling Plant at A.S.R./B.S.I., Nolberto Avilez, breaks it down. […]
On Monday, sugar industry stakeholders will meet to discuss when burning and delivery of cane will resume. The decision to temporarily pause the harvesting and delivery of cane was taken on January fourth after cane deliveries to the factory hit an all-time low. The factory at Tower Hill needs an average of five thousand tons […]
There isn’t an exact figure to indicate how much cane is in the fields, even though there is a tool that could do this very calculation. It is called the Sugar Industry Management Information System or SIMIS. But the issue here is that farmers are resisting implementing the software, and so is the Minister of […]
But A.S.R’s Mac McLachlan strongly disagrees with the Minister. McLachlan says that SIMIS is a hugely important tool that can be used to develop and modernize the industry. He says if the system had been effectively implemented by this time around, the struggles that farmers are facing would have probably been non-existent. Mac McLachlan, […]
Production within the sugar industry has been put on pause. That’s because on Monday stakeholders decided to suspend harvesting and delivery of sugar cane to the B.S.I. factory at Tower Hill. This inevitably pulls the plug on milling for the time being, as the delivery of cane has hit an all-time low due to recent […]
According to Osorio, during the first few days of the crop, minimal amounts of cane deliveries were made. He says that roughly eight thousand tons of cane have been burnt and will be delivered to the factory. Milling resumed at four o’clock and deliveries should be received up to two o’clock on Wednesday afternoon. From […]
The primary factors that have affected the delivery of cane to the factory include the recent weather, deteriorated sugar roads and low cane quality. For the factory to run efficiently farmers would have to deliver at least forty-eight thousand, seven hundred tons of cane. In the past eight days, however, only thirty-four thousand, six hundred […]
The hemp industry is back in the spotlight tonight, following a Cabinet decision on Monday to constitute an inter-ministerial taskforce to carefully go over the Misuse of Drugs Act. That committee will then make recommendations to amend the existing legislation in order to enable the proper development of the hemp industry. It will also establish […]
The country has recorded ten thousand, nine hundred and thirty-eight cases of COVID-19. With more than ten thousand recovered patients, five hundred and eighty-seven remain active. The Corozal and Orange Walk districts continue to record the most number of new cases daily. This led to the Ministry of Health and Wellness restricting travel to and […]
An industrial fire erupted at Belize Sugar Industries Limited on New Year’s Eve. A release from B.S.I. says that the fire occurred at the BELCOGEN Power Plant. Milling was suspended for approximately two hours to ensure the safety of all employees while containing and extinguishing the fire. Fortunately, no one was injured and the fire […]
The National Evangelical Association of Belize, NEAB, has responded to comments made by Minister of New Growth Industries Kareem Musa, in respect of the cannabis industry and the churches’ staunch opposition to such a venture. In speaking with the media earlier this week, Musa admitted that marijuana is consumed everyday in the country. While there […]
Continuing with our focus on the Ministry of New Growth’s foray into hemp production, in early 2021 a meeting will be convened with stakeholders and other interested parties in the up and coming industry to see how policies can be implemented to guide the sector forward. Taking a progressive approach, Minister Kareem Musa is already […]
The question of legislation, as well as amendments to existing laws, insofar as the issuance of licenses and the cultivation of cannabis is also taking center stage in the ongoing discussion. According to Minister Musa, revising the laws is necessary particularly where compliance is concerned. Kareem Musa, Minister of New Growth Industries “A lot […]
The 2020-2021 sugar cane crop season commenced on Monday, December twenty-eighth, but, unlike previous years, it was without festivities and fanfare. There was, however, growing tension between cane farmers and the miller over production estimates. As we reported on Thursday, A.S.R./B.S.I. was prepared to received cane delivery on December fourteenth, but farmers had expressed concerns […]
The cane supply for milling has been very slow, with farmers citing a range of reasons, including the poor state of feeder roads and some uncertainty over the start date. Up to ten o’clock this morning, one hundred and thirty-seven trucks made cane delivery to the factory which amounted to two thousand, six hundred tons […]
According to McLachlan, the fuss over cane price estimates would become a thing of the past if the Sugar Industry Management Information System, SIMIS, is implemented and used accordingly. He says that the system will account for the amount of cane out in the fields and where. However, some farmers believe that this will impact […]
A.S.R./B.S.I. is also monitoring the global market and the effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. McLachlan says that B.S.I. has made continuous investments to ensure that the industry remains competitive in the world sugar market. He says that on the factory side, phased expansion, to increase production capacity of value-added direct consumption sugars, continues. That […]
The great cannabis debate is once again at the forefront of public discourse, particularly following an announcement that the Ministry of New Growth Industries is partnering with a well-known American expert and businessman in the field of cannabis cultivation. The conversation also includes the legalization of marijuana, as well as the illegal market in which […]
In speaking about Lavin’s background and expertise in the cannabis industry, Minister Musa points out that there is no specialist in the area of cannabis farming locally. He says that with forty-two licenses approved by the previous administration, none of those individuals or companies have been able to successfully manufacture cannabis in the past year. […]
The sugar cane crop season is set to sort of open on Monday, December twenty-eight. We say sort of because A.S.R./B.S.I. has announced that it would be receiving cane deliveries on that day but the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Enterprise believes that reopening the crop season on Monday, under certain circumstances, is unfair to […]
According to Minister Mai, about fifty-three percent of the total number of cane farmers stand to lose if the farm registry is implemented for the delivery of sugar cane. He says that in each association, the majority of the farmers will be negatively affected. This is why he says that he does not comprehend why […]
A ceremony to commemorate the exportation of another consignment of cattle to Mexico was held today at Blue Creek Village, in the Orange Walk District. A total of six hundred and twenty heads of cattle is expected to be exported to Mexico. During the ceremony, Minister of Agriculture, Food Security and Enterprise Jose Abelardo Mai […]
