Last week the papaya export company Fruta Bomba announced that it would be closing down its Belize operation in San Joaquin village - and laying off 251 employees. The company gave a six month time frame for its wind-up, but reports from the north are that the mass layoffs have started today, and will continue tomorrow. Those reports say that as much as 80% of the staff could be laid off by next week. The company will then reportedly keep a skeleton staff as it winds up operations.
It's a massive blow for the north in terms of employment, but Fruta Bomba sent out a press release last week saying that it had no choice because it was consistently losing money in Belize - despite making new investments in its operation. It attributed the downturn to Hurricane Dean way back in 2007. But we also know that the company had had problems with the Department of the Environment and with local farmers and a bee keeping co-op which claimed that pesticides had destroyed their bee populations.
Fruta Bomba had been operating in northern Belize for 22 years.
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Last week the papaya export company Fruta Bomba announced that it would be closing down its Belize operation in San Joaquin village - and laying off 251 employees. The company gave a six month time frame for its wind-up, but reports from the north are that the mass layoffs have started today, and will continue tomorrow. Those reports say that as much as 80% of the staff could be laid off by next week. The company will then reportedly keep a skeleton staff as it winds up operations.