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Good evening and welcome to an early edition of 7news to make way for live under 16 football tonight at 7:00…

We begin tonight with news of an event that didn't happen.  We're talking about the scheduled meeting between BSI and its parent company ASR – on one side, and the Cane Farmers on the other.  The meeting had been set for yesterday at the Radisson in Belize City – but it didn't happen.  And indeed, the farmers had made their terms clear on Monday evening with a letter to BSI saying that discussions about bagasse had to take center stage in any discussions, that it couldn't just be a sidebar issue.  And they weren't bluffing!  So, ASR Executives flew in from the USA to find no one to talk to.  Senior Vice President Ricardo Lima told our colleagues at KREM Radio that he was disappointed:

Voice of: Richardo Lima - Vice President, Technical Services, ASR
"It's really not for us to judge them. They have a choice, and apparently, they chose not to show up, despite of the fact that we had set this up a few days ago. Two of my colleagues and I travelled all the way from the United States just for this meeting, but we hope that this conflict, instead of escalating, that it's resolved amicably for the betterment of the farmers, BSI, and the country of Belize."

Hipolito Novelo - Love News
"They want BSI, the company, to pay them for that. Is there any way that's going to happen?"

Ricardo Lima
"As you know, we've had releases, and there has been letters back and forth in the media, so you know our position on the bagasse issue. I'd rather not talk about it right now. I think this is not the forum or the place to do that."

Hipolito Novelo
"I understand that at this point, they won't get any money for the bagasse."

Ricardo Lima
"I - they know exactly what our position is, and how we feel about the bagasse."

BSI today sent out a release saying quote, "Three Corporate Executives from ASR adjusted their schedules and flew into Belize specifically for the meeting." It adds, quote, "together with a representative of the Ministry of Agriculture, (they) went to the Radisson from before 2:00 p.m. and waited until well past 4:00 p.m., but the BSCFA representatives neither showed nor called." End quote.

The release does go unto make an important point – saying that the harvest cannot open as planned on November 25th. And it's not because of the standoff over bagasse.  This time, it's because of the rain. The BSI release says that quote "there are difficulties with roads and fields caused by the excessive rain and this start date may need to be delayed." Indeed, best information says that with the state of the fields and the cane roads, intensive work will need to be done by the Ministry of Works before the harvest begins.  There are also farmers who will experience loss of their crop due to rain.

And so that's where it stands tonight – with some breathing room before the season starts – and much work to do.

For the meantime, the farmers are holding their ground and while they didn't
didn't attend yesterday's meeting with ASR executives, they did attend another one which was held today in Orange Walk – and that was with the leader of the PUP Francis Fonseca and other PUP Area Representatives from the north.

And their stance is garnering attention from other industries as well.  The Banana Growers Association issued a press release saying quote, "The Banana Growers Association sympathizes with the plight of the CGA and the Sugar Cane Farmers Association, and we sincerely hope that an amicable solution between the parties will be found," end quote.