The sugar industry appears to be on the precipice of a crisis as Belize Sugar Industry - the company that buys and processes cane form farmers - will be unable to meet what's known as its third payment.
The third payment is the last installment of farmers earnings for the cane season and on average represents about 6% of the total payment. So it is not a huge chunk of their earnings but it is a huge deal for the cane farmers who use the funds to prepare for the coming season which starts harvesting in mid-December.
The payment is due on Monday November eighth but BSI has written to the cane farmers association telling them that they can't pay. BSI explains that its international creditors have pulled the plug on its financing.
Now, the company has gone to the social security board for financing and a 10 million dollar loan has been approved, but the board won't disburse the loan until BSI provides some kind of collateral.
But while all this high finance talk hovers in the air, on the ground it means that on Monday cane farmers will not get money that is owed to them. The cane farmers are yet to plan a strategy to try and recoup their earnings.
All this comes on the heels on one of the worst years for the Tower Hill Factory as it was beset by countless problems relating to the installation BELCOGEN plant -making for one of the worst years for sugar production on record even as cane production increased by 30%.
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