22.8 C
Belize City
Friday, March 29, 2024

World Down Syndrome Day

Photo: Students and staff of Stella Maris...

BPD awards 3 officers with Women Police of the Year

Photo: (l-r) Myrna Pena, Carmella Cacho, and...

Suicide on the rise!

Photo: Iveth Quintanilla, Mental Health Coordinator by Charles...

Sugar season off to a rocky start

GeneralSugar season off to a rocky start

ORANGE WALK, Mon. Jan. 3, 2022– The grinding season for this year’s sugarcane crop has finally started after a two-week delay. The company which mills the cane, ASR/BSI, and the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association (BSCFA) were at loggerheads over the terms of a new commercial agreement and the signing of an interim contract. After an intervention from Cabinet ministers who represent constituencies in the northern districts, including the Prime Minister, Hon. John Briceño, the interim agreement was signed before the end of 2021, a hopeful sign for the New Year. However, delivery of sugarcane to the mill had to once again be halted in order for the mill to carry out repairs on a malfunctioning industry boiler over the weekend, and while the farmers suspect that this further delay was an act of spite on the mill’s part, workers from ASR/BSI have their own suspicions about possible attempts at sabotage by BFSCA members after a huge rock was found in a batch on cane on the dumping table headed for grinding. That rock could have caused considerable damage to the mill’s equipment.

Due to the size of the rock, those at the mill find it hard to believe that the presence of the rock amidst the cane was accidental, and while an investigation into the matter is ongoing, the chairman of the Sugar Industry Control Board, Marcos Osorio, says it’s too early to say if the presence of the rock was an accident or a deliberate act of sabotage. The focus at this current time, however, is on starting the milling of the cane that has been sitting in trucks for days now, losing its quality as each day passes.

An estimated 360 tonnes of sugar cane (about 16-18 tonnes in each truck) were packed in those approximately 20 trucks that formed a blockade outside the delivery gate at the compound of ASR/BSI’s Tower Hill factory for around three days. Industry experts say that the quality of that load of sugarcane will be significantly reduced, likely leading to lower earnings on that haul for both the farmers and the mill. Osorio hopes that all the sugarcane from those trucks can be milled within the coming days.

So, while the sugar crop is off to a not so smooth start, the milling has begun. The trucks were removed from the entrance of the mill since last week and today were allowed to enter those same gates to deliver the first batch of their sugar cane. According to Andrew Westby, chairman of the BSCFA, milling began around 10 o’clock today. He expressed thanks to the Prime Minister, Hon. John Briceño, and his team for their efforts to broker the agreement with the mill and ensure sugarcane delivery until the end of the crop.

Due to the legal challenges that may arise from the actions of the BSCFA, the Prime Minister has also delivered an indemnity agreement to the association that transfers legal responsibility to the government for any claims taken to court by those who incurred losses due to those actions.

After high levels of tension in the northern districts for the past weeks, the sugar crop, a bumper harvest, has begun to be processed by the mill. Still pending, however, is the signing of a new commercial agreement between ASR/BSI and the BSCFA, since this interim agreement that has made it possible for the sugar industry to remain intact, expires at the end of July of this year. By then, the parties hope to have reached a new agreement.

Check out our other content

World Down Syndrome Day

Suicide on the rise!

Check out other tags:

International