The senior statesman, long retired, has been contracted by the government to advise SICB in ongoing sugar industry negotiations, Agriculture Minister Hon. Jose Mai says there is no one more experienced in, or knowledgeable of, the sugar industry. PSU president Dean Flowers calls it a “slap in the face” of young public officers.
BELIZE CITY, Wed. June 1, 2022
A number of eyebrows were raised when it was reported that former PUP Cabinet minister, and father of two current Cabinet members, 80-year-old Florencio Marin, Sr., had been contracted to serve as a one-year advisor to the government of Belize, specifically to assist the Sugar Industry Control Board (SICB), in brokering a new commercial agreement between the sugar cane farmers represented by the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association (BSCFA) and the company which mills and exports the cane, Belize Sugar Industries Ltd. (BSI). That agreement is due to expire on July 31, 2022, which is roughly two months away, and at this time the industry is being held together by a fragile interim agreement, signed by the parties in January of this year following a standoff that had threatened to derail the sugar harvest.
Notably, the interim agreement that is currently in place was a hastily cobbled-together arrangement that required the mediation of both the Prime Minister and the Minister of Agriculture after an impasse in negotiations between BSCFA and BSI caused a delay in the start of the sugar crop in December. It had been initially hoped that earlier that month the two parties would have finalized the terms of a new commercial agreement prior to the scheduled expiration in January 2022 of the agreement that was previously in place. But the BFSCA had insisted that the revenue-and-cost-sharing formulas in the agreement be altered in the new agreement so that farmers could get a larger share of the earnings, while ASR/BSI had insisted that, following the millions they had invested in updating production processes, such a concession was one they couldn’t afford to make. Both parties refused to budge, resulting in a week-long postponement of the start of the processing of harvested cane. During that period, members of the BFSCA used their trucks to block the entrance to the ASR/BSI factory, and even after the interim agreement was finalized and operations resumed, the relations between the two parties were still strained—and there were threats of lawsuits by BSI and other northern sugar growers associations for the losses they reportedly incurred as a result of the standoff.
Interestingly, when the interim agreement between ASR/BSI and BSCFA had been signed — thus allowing the commencement of milling at the start of January, the AMANDALA, in an article dated Wednesday, January 5, 2022, had stated, “Joining the Prime Minister in the efforts to broker a truce between the parties were other northern area representatives, Florencio Marin, Ramon Cervantes, Ramiro Ramirez, and Agriculture Minister Hon. Jose Mai. The BSCFA chairman told local media that their involvement fast-tracked the process.”
That article also noted the continuing bitterness in the relations between BSI and BSCFA, when it stated, “The company, in a release issued on December 30, stated, ‘BSI does not condone the illegal tactics and threats of violence to pressure concessions from the mill. There is no place for such a tactic in a modern sugar industry. This will only damage the credibility of the whole industry, and call in question whether under such a volatile atmosphere it will be safe to operate the mill.’”
With the stakes as high as they are, experience and expertise will be key to striking a balance that ensures both parties are willing to continue to play their respective roles in generating sugar export revenue, which is so critical to the well-being of the economy, and both the Prime Minister, Hon. John Briceño, and Minister of Agriculture, Hon. Jose Mai, in the face of questions about the propriety of hiring someone with such close ties to Cabinet, have publicly stated that they believe Marin, Sr. is the person who is most equipped to salvage the very volatile sugar industry.
During remarks on Friday, Minister Mai said, “Mr. Marin is a very well-respected and known gentleman in the sugar belt. He has a long of friends and people who respect him in the sugar industry. The sugar industry right now in the north is in a very difficult situation because of the new agreement that the farmers and the millers need to sign, and there is a lot of tension. I think that bringing on Mr. Marin, as a person who is well-respected and a very experienced politician, would bring some kind of resolution to this, so to speak, conflict between the cane farmer and the association.”
PM Briceño, for his part, said that the inclusion of Marin in the process might in fact keep the parties at the table in the negotiations to come.
“Everybody knows that Florencio Marin is one of the most knowledgeable persons when it comes to the relation between the cane farmers in BSI. We had in the 28th of December in 2021, we had a strike by the farmers and they shut down the mill for almost about a week. The factory claims that they lost about a million dollars. Farmers lost probably the same, and we believe that at this critical moment when the farmers and BSI continue to negotiate for a commercial agreement, that it is important that we can have someone that is able to speak to both parties and to keep them together without fighting,” PM Briceño said. (Notably, prior to the signing of the interim agreement, cane farmers had marched to the Prime Minister’s home and demanded his resignation.)
The Prime Minister said that he asked Marin, Sr., to serve as an advisor who will facilitate the negotiations at a very critical juncture—when both parties (BSCFA and ASR/BSI) are on the edge. And a Ministry of Agriculture memo dated April 26 reportedly confirms that such an arrangement was made with the senior Marin.
“We don’t want another strike to occur. We don’t want cane fields being burnt down, and that you know, that we have a sabotage. We want to make sure that the sugar industry, an industry that has a direct impact on the people of the north in the Orange Walk and Corozal District, an industry that has a direct impact on our 5,000 cane farmers, that we can keep things calmly, that we can keep both sides together talking at all time, and hopefully for the next year or so that he can help us to be able to move this industry forward,” PM Briceño said.
Members of the United Democratic Party, however, have condemned the decision to hire Marin Sr. (the father of the Attorney General, Magali Marin Young, and Minister of National Security, Florencio Marin, Jr.), who will reportedly be paid $36,000 for his one-year tenure. UDP chairman, Senator Michael Peyrefitte, mentioned during remarks to reporters, that while he respects the veteran statesman, he does not think he should be paid $36,000.
“I have great respect for him, but one, I don’t think he needs thirty-six thousand dollars; two, I don’t think you can keep hiring people like that, especially the father of two sitting government ministers in the face of you telling public servants that they can’t get their increases back, you can’t institute a five-dollar minimum wage. You cannot in that environment hire the father of two ministers to work in the sector,” Peyrefitte said in an interview with local media.
He added, “I don’t think that there is a need for Mr. Marin to make an additional salary. Why can’t he in the goodness of his heart, with all his experience in the sugar industry just come and offer his services as a friend to the government and as a friend to the people of Belize free of cost?”
Hon. Jose Mai, Minister of Agriculture, however, has stated that Marin Sr.’s involvement will be key to the success of the process.
“I think it will make a difference, bringing him on to try to resolve the situation within the sugar industry right now, a little thinking outside the box, you know, someone that can dialogue with the farmers, you know. There are 5,300 cane farmers, and I don’t know if you have ever been to a cane farmers meeting to, it really gets rough. So, Mr. Marin has that type of diplomacy, soft- speaking, and people respect him for who he is and what he has been in the past,” Minister Mai said.
With just two months until the expiration of the current interim agreement holding the industry together, and no signs of conversations to reach a new commercial agreement suitable to both parties, Marin. Sr. will have his work cut out for him.
Florencio Marin, Sr. served as the deputy prime minister under the leadership of the Father of the Nation, Rt. Hon. George Price, and as leader of the opposition during Rt. Hon. Manuel Esqivel’s tenure as PM. He has been active in Belizean politics from 1965 to 2008, when he retired from office, and was replaced by his son in the Corozal Southeast constituency, where Marin, Sr., had been undefeated for over 40 years.
Today, the president of the Public Service Union (PSU), Dean Flowers, in his remarks on the matter, said, “Like most Belizeans, the Public Service Union was surprised to see that recommendation coming from the CEO in the Ministry of Agriculture. It would appear that these kinds of hiring would suggest that we don’t have competent public officers within the public service to provide the kind of advice that is necessary to these technical officers.”
Flowers added, “There is a lot of qualified young people who I am certain has submitted their application on the Ministry of Public Service platform to fill any post, vacant post perhaps within the Ministry of Agriculture. It’s an insult to the Belizean public and it’s a disrespect to the young voters and the young population of this country by this administration…another insult…”
During an interview, today Prime Minister Briceno confirmed that there has been an increase in the price of sugar cane. “As we know the price in the world market has improved, has gone up,” the PM said. He shared that he received a letter indicating this yesterday. “The price has gone up and things are looking good for our farmers and I hope that we can continue going in that upward trend.” The PM said