The National Agriculture and Trade Show takes place this weekend at the show grounds in Belmopan. Thousands are expected to converge there for the event which begins on Friday and concludes on Sunday. A highlight of the show is the selection and announcement of the Farmers of the Year, both male and female, as well […]
There is tragic news in the west at Santander, whose offices are headquartered in Guatemala. A twenty-four year old Guatemalan national was mangled around midday today by a harvester at the company’s cane fields in Valley of Peace. The field worker, Francisco Andres Antonio Sebastian, was part of several crews who were harvesting sugar cane. […]
A major plank of the Opposition’s debate in the House was agriculture. They pointed to situations in the papaya, shrimp, citrus, sugar and banana and put the blame squarely on the shoulders of Government. Orange Walk South Area Representative Jose Mai led the charge on that front, blaming government’s inattention and neglect on what he […]
For the past several weeks we have been reporting on a looming cash flow crisis within the citrus industry. Growers have not been receiving fruit payments from Citrus Products of Belize Limited in a timely manner, consistent with an approved weekly schedule. So, what’s the reason for the unforeseen delay? Well, CPBL is awaiting a […]
A tripartite agreement to eradicate hunger in six southern communities within the Toledo District was endorsed this afternoon by the Government of Belize, PetroCaribe and the Food and Agriculture Organization. Under an initiative known as FAO Agreement Hugo Chavez Frias, a project to assist these villages with corn and beans has been launched. The FAO, […]
The action plan, says Montero, a representative of the Ministry of Agriculture, will also assist in mitigating post-harvest losses. Emilio Montero, Ministry of Agriculture “The geographic area that has been selected through the FAO is the Toledo District in six communities along the new Southern Highway. As you are very well aware there is […]
Today, Citrus Products of Belize Limited was expected to have released last week’s fruit payment to growers since there is an existing delay with Heritage Bank awaiting approval from the Central Bank to release the remaining funds. In light of the setback, CPBL was not in a position to release last week’s fruit payroll on […]
There’s another bust to report tonight and it involves conch. The Fisheries Department seized a large quantity of illegally harvested seafood, following a search conducted on a vessel south of Belize City on Wednesday. Five fishermen have been arrested as a result of the bust. They were found in possession of over one thousand undersized […]
There is brewing concern in the citrus industry tonight after growers were informed via a Citrus Growers Association release that payroll in the immediate future is uncertain. Here’s the situation as we understand it. Every year during crop season Citrus Products of Belize Limited, CPBL, engages in short term capital financing. That financing is used […]
The 2016/2017 Budget will be presented on Tuesday, and the Opposition has been predicting that it will be anything but uplifting and inspiring. Today P.U.P. leader John Briceño stuck to that forecast, claiming that especially where agriculture is concerned, there are dark days looking. Briceño told News Five today that in the North, sugar cane […]
On Friday, we reported the confiscation of twenty-seven thousand, five hundred and seventy-one pounds of rice. The bulk grain was removed from a business in Belize City when it was discovered that the producer was not in compliance with the existing labeling standard. The rice which comes from Shipyard remains in detention tonight because the […]
Lay-offs at Fruta Bomba and Belize Food Packers Limited are taking place up north. The companies which are located in San Joaquin Village and Corozal Town will be letting go, in the first phase, one hundred and twenty three of its two hundred and fifty employees in its workforce as it begins to pull out […]
There is a development tonight in the rice industry, which does not have to do with importer Jack Charles. The Belize Bureau of Standards says it has served what is a rare Notice of Detention to a rice producer, who the Bureau is not naming, but we know him to be from Shipyard, Orange Walk […]
As we reported last week, Fruta Bomba Limited and Belize Food Packers are packing up and leaving Belize for other destinations. The exporters of Caribbean red papaya say labour costs are cheaper in places such as Dominican Republic, despite the many duty exemptions granted to the company. The company expects to take six months to […]
One issue which did not come up at the meeting of CARICOM heads of government was rice – specifically Guyana rice brought to Belize by importer Jack Charles. It was then sent back, ostensibly because Charles had not gotten the proper permit from the Belize Agriculture Health Authority. It was more than that, though. The […]
There was a huge outcry from the public, the unions, the People’s United Party, the Belize Progressive Party about a loan of twelve million dollars to the foreign owned Santander Company. The loan request was approved by the Investment Committee of the S.S.B., but according to its chair Doug Singh, it had not been disbursed. […]
Ayau spent the first part of the conference outlining the investor structure of the loan, and also the reasons why he says any investment in the project is a sure bet. Andres Ayau, Chief Financial Officer, Santander Group “We have participation in this loan from local and international banks. There has been a lot […]
Ayau says that the Santander Group has already made a significant, concrete on the ground investment in Belize – in money spent, in taxes paid, in employment and also in contributing to the nation’s overall development on the world stage. Andres Ayau, Chief Financial Officer, Santander Group “We have currently over nine hundred workers; […]
Ayau says the press conference was deemed necessary because of the public outcry, much of which he says has been based on inaccurate information. The Santander Rep felt that the matter had been politicized because the company operates out of Guatemala. Andres Ayau, Chief Financial Officer, Santander Group “I think they have an effect. […]
One of the biggest industries up north is the papaya industry. It provides employment for hundreds, but the future of the industry is bleak tonight because Fruta Bomba and its subsidiary, Belize Food Packers Limited are closing shop and moving to more profitable destinations in the region. This week, the Ministry of Agriculture was advised […]
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, they only got word of Fruta Bomba’s departure two days ago, but P.U.P. leader John Briceño, who hails from the north of the country, says that explanation is unsatisfactory. According to Briceño, the writing has been on the wall for a long time now and the ministry was caught […]
The departure of Fruta Bomba is only the most recent of a series of bad news for Belize where industries are concerned. Since last year the country has been taking some hard hit, particularly in the area of agriculture. P.U.P. leader John Briceño says there’s a simple explanation for that – the Ministry of Agriculture […]
While Briceño says that the agriculture sector is taking a hit, the Ministry of Agriculture does not agree. Notwithstanding, late last year, Meridian Enterprises in the banana industry closed its doors, leaving over a thousand workers without jobs. In the shrimp industry, farms had to be closed down because of an infection. But C.E.O. Jose […]
Belizeans consume about twelve thousand tons of rice annually. But is that rice contaminated with a poisonous chemical which causes cancer? Aflatoxins are produced by fungi found on agricultural products, including rice, stored in warm and humid places. Studies have shown that it can cause stunted development, liver damage and even liver cancer. So when […]
The documents from Eurofins Lab were accompanied by a press release – the one to which Agriculture C.E.O. Jose Alpuche makes reference. In that release, Charles admits that he commissioned the testing to see whether locally produced rice met the Standards Order 2015. According to Charles, “the concern arises from the aflatoxin levels and based […]
