The CARICOM Secretary General's warning sounds very similar to what Foreign Affairs Minister Wilfred Elrington said in the House of Representatives about 9 months ago.
For context, we repeat his comments - which were made when Jack Charles first began agitating against the prices charged by the Local Producers. Here's what he had to say then:
FILE: March 27, 2015
Hon. Wilfred Elrington
"Clearly that is a matter that the government has got to look into to ensure that in fact the people get the best deal. But I would also like to say at this point in time, that I find it incomprehensible that in fact the Guyanese are able to land rice here at 60 cents or 63 cents a pound in sacks and we cannot produce it for less than 80 cents. It's a Caricom sister nation. We are competing against that Caricom sister nation and certainly, it is the entitlement that the Belizean public to get the cheapest rice from Caricom. I am sounding a warning Mr. Speaker, because I know that our government will do all in our power to protect our local industries and our local people. But I can tell you very readily that there are only certain things that we have control over and if in fact business people in our country have the right under our treaty obligations with the Caribbean to import rice at a cheaper price, our government may not be able to help them and stop them from doing it."
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