And while sugar puts bread on the table of over six thousand families in the north - the other major employer is the Corozal Free Zone - and as we reported on Friday, business there is also imperiled this Christmas.
That's because the commercial banks in the zone have not freely been taking US dollars for the past three weeks - which is already cramping business in the Zone and threatens to freeze operations completely if a solution is not found.
At base the issue is that the Central Bank has lost its account with HSBC - an international bank which used to process the millions of US dollars in cash coming from the zone.
That's a part of US anti-money-laundering banking regulations - and the effect in Belize is that upwards of 17 million US dollars is just sitting in a vault and cannot be processed.
Now it's not the Central Bank's fault; they started backing up the zone's foreign currency operations by default in 2002 - after the commercial banks lost their connect - but now it's the Ministry of Finance that is being looked to for a solution.
On Friday evening at the Central Bank a meeting was held with the then acting Prime Minister Patrick Faber, senior Ministry Of Finance staff and advisors and Central Bank managers.
On Sunday, Faber told us that in finding a solution, there aren't any easy options.
Hon. Patrick Faber, Chaired Meeting
"This problem has to do with of course the pressures coming from the United States government in terms of insisting on money laundering activities not happening and in that regard, we are absolutely certain that a change in the way that business is operating in the free zone needs to happen and I believe the businessmen are aware of that. It's unfortunate that this change cannot happen as quickly as it would need to happen in order to smooth things out but it has to be that that is the long term solution - trying to change the way things are happening, meaning we will not be able to operate in a manner where we accept cold hard cash from those who are buying in the free zone. That it is clear from our meetings has to be the direction in which we move, we have to change things around. Now in as far as the government of Belize and there is a crisis in the free zone as it relates to getting rid of the US currency - getting it out of Belize, you are right, we have to be mindful that this is a big problem. This is a crucial job sector of our country as well and we need to make sure that something is done in that regard. I can tell you that there were a few suggestions around the table of Friday coming from the businessmen and from members of the cabinet and that we will explore those options as the week begins tomorrow and also at the cabinet meeting on Tuesday to try to come up with something that can at least alleviate the situation in the short term. But in the short term we have all of this cash that has been coming in and that remains the problem, we have to find some solutions and I'll tell you the business men are not alone in their effort to resolve this problem. The entire nation needs to be concerned about it and the Ministry of Finance takes this problem very seriously and we will be looking at that."
All sides have been asked to refrain from speaking to the media, while government tries to find a solution.
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