Trouble is brewing in the Citrus Valley as we go to press this evening – and the trouble stems from an attempt by the Citrus Growers Association (CGA) and the Belize Citrus Growers Association Investment Company Limited (ICL) to unseat three of their own directors, who they say they no longer want to represent them on the board of the Citrus Products of Belize Limited (CPBL).
CPBL, a factory part-owned by the CGA, is the main producer and exporter of citrus and citrus products from Belize, and turmoil within could mean serious trouble for what continues to be one of Belize’s leading agricultural sectors – worth over $100 million annually.
The CGA has taken out a paid ad, claiming that CPBL’s board is ignoring a formal request the association of growers made for an August 11th extraordinary meeting. Instead, they are calling a meeting for August 12th on different terms.
Frank Redmond, former CGA chairman; Mike Dunker; and Dr. Henry Canton, the chief executive officer of CPBL, should all be removed, says CGA. But not so fast, says Canton’s camp.
He went to the Supreme Court for an injunction, which was refused on Wednesday. CGA alleges that Canton, Redmond and Dunker got support from the four CPBL Caribbean directors (of Banks Holdings, which owns 47% of CPBL), to not defend against the injunction.
CGA and ICL asked the court to be joined as interested parties, and they were, therefore, able to argue against the injunction, says the CGA.
When we called Canton at CPBL today for his side of the story, he sent a message back to our newspaper to say that he has no comment, because the matter is before the court.
The CGA’s advert says that they, the CGA and ICL, want to replace Dunker, Canton, and Redmond, with Denzil Jenkins, who has argued for changes in the industry’s management for years, Rosella Zabaneh (businesswoman and former president of the Belize Tourism Industry Association), and well-known citrus grower, Antonio Zabaneh.
The meeting of August 12 is being set by the Canton camp, alleges CGA, to block the replacement of the three board members and keep them in office.
They “have strongly resisted their removal and have not resigned as directors of CPBL,” CGA’s statement claims.
If the meeting of August 12th goes through to vote on an extraordinary resolution, a three-fourth majority of CPBL shareholders would be required to vet the removal of Canton, Redmond and Dunker.
For its part, CGA wants an ordinary resolution, which would reportedly require only a simple majority.