When we left you on Friday night, the biggest news of the day was that 2021/2022, Sugar Crop Season, known as "La Zafra", would not begin on December 20th. According to the insiders in the sugar industry, representatives of the stakeholders agreed among themselves that this date was ideal since it is estimated that a large quantity of cane - some 1.3 million tonnes - is sitting in cane fields in Northern Belize.
So, cane farmers are anxious to get started with their deliveries, but the government-controlled Sugar Industries Control Board, which governs many aspects of the industry shut it all down. Chairman Marcos Osorio says it is illegal to start grinding operations until the SICB has published the start and end dates of the season in the Gazette.
It is being described as a historical first-time intervention where the SICB is actively preventing the season's commencement. And, with that, ASR/BSI was forced to pull the brakes on the start of the season.
Yesterday, the company sent out a weekend press release asking farmers not to burn their cane and attempt to deliver it on today's date, without the SICB's Gazetted approval for the season's start.
Their statement says, quote, "We see this action being taken by the SICB, an arm of the Government of Belize, as a deliberate attempt to prevent the crop from starting which would have significant financial repercussions for the mill, farmers, and the wider economy. However, we feel obligated to not receive cane on Monday, December 20, 2021, for the following reasons: (1) the declaration by the SIBC, a government arm, that commencement of the crop would be a violation of the law (2) the threats on Social Media and radio, we feel the need to avoid to the best of our ability a situation that could trigger violence..."
This morning, ASR/BSI hosted a virtual press conference to discuss why they feel that there was no need for the Sugar Board to stop the Zafra from beginning under ideal weather conditions. Here are a few of those remarks:
Malcolm "Mac" McLachlan - VP, International Relations, ASR/BSI
"The sugar industry is in a difficult place right now. Just to fill in the members of the press about what's happening, we should be milling cane as we speak, and we're not. Farmers from all 4 cane farmer associations met with BSI on the 8th and the 16th of December and agreed that the start of crop date would be the 20th of December, so today. And on the 17th of December, the SICB Chairman, Marcos Osorio, informed industry stakeholders by letter that until the start of crop date was published in the Gazette, it would be illegal to commence grinding. We believe that this was not a warranted intervention in the operation of a private sector industry, and it's meant basically the crop start is now delayed. Now that's gonna cause - every day it's delayed is causing economic damage to all industry stakeholders. We've sought legal advice on that action, and this morning, lawyers representing the mill have sent a letter to the SICB setting out the illegality of that action because it amounts to an abuse of authority after farmers and millers had already decided on the start of crop and asking him to comply with the decision reached in his presence at those earlier meetings. There is no need in the law for the SICB to rubber-stamp the decisions. It's simply to publish that in the Gazette, and I think it's fair to say that action has really brought to the forefront a major concern that we and other industry stakeholders share, which is about the level of control and authority that's placed in a government-controlled institution. All the farmers who want to deliver their cane have reached - that's the vast majority - and the miller who wants to receive the cane are impeded from doing so. The reason that we wanted to start now is that, as we all know, when we have a significant amount of cane to mill, we want to get through that as quickly as we can, and certainly, before the weather turns, usually around the end of July. So, the idea to get moving now is really to help everyone, including the farmers. I think there's a real problem here because there's definitely going to be an economic disadvantage. So, I think that it would be very wise for SICB to think about its liability in that state."
Email
Print