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And so today, BSI executives -who usually shy away from public engagements, held a press conference to try and get their message through to the cane farmers and the public. Jules Vasquez was there:

Ricardo Lima, ASR - Executive Vice President
"We are a private company. We are not use to airing our differences in the media. We are used to sitting down professionally, business-like and negotiate. Everything is negotiable if there if good intent. I ask the farmers to consider coming back to the table (BSCFA), to start the crop weather permitting for the betterment of everyone."

Jules Vasquez reporting
But the Cane Farmers have refused to come to the table - refusing even a meeting today - so ASR and BSI today had to take it to the media - making a quite simple case, the bagasse is waste, and it is their waste:

Arsenio Burgos, Chairman, BSI Board
"Farmers sell the sugarcane to BSI; the sugar, the water, the fiber, mud and all. The sugarcane is then the property and responsibility of BSI. BSI spent 20 million over the last 30 years for such storage and disposal and continues to bear the cost. BSCFA would never have entertained such costs."

But now, they say the cane farmers want money for that which is not theirs and has no value:

Jules Vasquez
"The farmers are requesting (and this is either Mr. Lima or Mr. Montalvo) $10 per ton. As far as I have heard so far it seems that any amount per ton you all believe is non-negotiable and so if they are making this request is that in your estimation greed on their part?"

Ricardo Lima, ASR - Executive Vice President
"Really to put a value of $10, $15 or $20 is really not the issue. The issue is that it really does not have a value."

But the farmers say it does have a value, as an input in the BELCOGEN plant. That is the subject under some dispute based on the interpretation of a clause in a 1989 commercial agreement:

Adele Ramos, Amandala
"It says that the sharing of revenue arising from the sale of any bi-product not covered in their present agreement will be subject to future discussions and the sharing of revenue will be based on the results of those discussions. Could you clarify for us what was envisioned at this time that this clause was put into effect?"

Joey Montalvo, CEO - BSI
"This is where we are having the fundamental dispute - the definition of bi-product. Hence the fundamental problem that the claim with respect for bagasse."

Arsenio Burgos, Chairman, BSI Board
"BSI's position is that the revenue from electricity sale cannot be described as a sale of a bi-product and that the source of the revenue is really a productive way of what BSI has been doing all the years on its own - disposal of the bagasse."

And while both sides differ fundamentally and possibly irreconcilably on that point, BSI is inviting them to the table:

Ricardo Lima, ASR - Executive Vice President
"Actually as recent as yesterday we invited them to another meeting while we were here. We were ready to move our trip back to Wednesday so that we could meet with them this afternoon. They apparently haven't said anything but they denied that they won't want to show up for the meeting. It's difficult to come to an agreement with another if we don't talk. We are open to negotiations. We are very logical people, we know the industry quite well, we want to move forward in a constructive way."

But, the strategy seems to be to engage the farmers on a subject which ASR and BSI feel ultimately can only end up in court:

Arsenio Burgos, Chairman, BSI Board
"Since there is a fundamental disagreement between the parties then the proper place to determine the dispute is in the courts."

Ricardo Lima, ASR - Executive Vice President
"Going back to the table, negotiations is the way to go. We can reach an agreement on the commercial agreement and continue to agree to disagree on the bagasse as we have mentioned and they continue the avenue of the courts and there will be a crop. I think that's the prudent thing to do. I think it's a logical thing to do. It's a business-like thing to do and it's the humane thing to do for 35,000 families members out there."

They say that the latest the season can start is by mid-December:

Joey Montalvo, CEO - BSI
"If we have a late start it means that the crop is delayed. We could get into a rainy weather towards the end. All be it right now we have a situation even if we didn't have this problem, we would not be able to start even if we mutually agreed (both the BSI and the BSCFA) on a start date, we couldn't because of the road conditions. The earliest that we would see would be perhaps in our estimate about the middle of December."

And if it doesn't start, they say a whole lot more than bagasse money stands to be lost:

Ricardo Lima, ASR - Executive Vice President
"Its 3-4 years that it takes to recover from something like this, so it's huge. I am not sure that there is understanding of how grave this problem is and I want to stress that."

Arsenio Burgos, Chairman, BSI Board
"If instead the disposition is for strive and force then this does not speak well for the investment climate. Ladies and gentlemen, the damage that this can quietly inflict on the interest of the nation on a whole is untold. The BSCFA's position that they will not start crop unless and until a payment for bagasse is agreed to in unreasonable - will hurt farmers, will damage the sugar industry and the national interest of Belize."

Ricardo Lima, ASR - Executive Vice President
"A delayed crop will also send a wrong message to our customers in Europe, basically that neither BSI nor Belize will say reliable source of sugar supply. We hope that happens in the next few weeks is that common sense, good intent takes over and what he hope is that deliveries take place. We hope that the crop starts soon as possible, as soon as the weather allows it."

Hope and hardlines hardly match though, and to realize that wish, one of the sides will have to surrender something, and quick - or risk losing a lot more.

Ricardo Lima, ASR - Executive Vice President
"What is going to happen? I don't know what's going to happen because its two parties here and as the saying goes "it takes two to tango.""

Of note is that ASR had hosted executives from the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association in Florida where they spent a week familiarizing themselves with ASR's operations at one of its refineries. Lima says he thought a good relationship had been forged there, but concluded today, quote, "obviously, I was wrong."