By Aaron Humes: A Bill for an Act to amend the Sugar Industry and Cogeneration Project Act, Chapter 59:01 of the Substantive Laws of Belize, Revised Edition 2020, to extend exemptions from taxes and duties for the continued development of the cogeneration energy project is before the House of Representatives.
Prime Minister and Minister of Finance John Briceño reiterated the dire straits in which Belize Sugar Industries Limited (BSI) found itself before the 80 percent acquisition by American Sugar Refining (ASR) in October of 2012 for $130 million, which including repaying $120 million in external debt, $10 million of which was owed to Government after a bailout in 2011 occasioned by being unable to make the third payment of sugar prices to farmers.
BSI was rescued from ‘bankruptcy’, and the Government agreed to exemptions from business tax to 2017 and customs duties to 2022. ASR in turn invested more than $200 million in improvements to the mill at Tower Hill, environmental improvements in treatment of ash and soot from the mill, reducing time for export of raw sugar through the Big Creek Port, a pivot toward value-added production and expanding markets in the European Union, CARICOM and the United States. BELCOGEN produces 10 percent of national electric power from co-generation with bagasse and jobs have been preserved.
BSI has remained a ‘power player’ despite industry shocks both natural – drought, Fusarium, etc. – and man-made – the de-regulation of the sugar imports into the EU – but it continues to lose money to the tune of $75 million over eight years, and so it continues to need support from the Government, which would stand to lose $2.5 million annually from the exemptions of taxes, which the P.M. said would be dwarfed if ‘King Sugar’ falls. He noted that farmers are getting $2.5 million in supplementary allocations to fight Fusarium in their fields ahead of the coming cane season.
This Bill goes to the House’s Finance and Economic Development Committee for examination, consideration and report.
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By Aaron Humes: A Bill for an Act to amend the Sugar Industry and Cogeneration Project Act, Chapter 59:01 of the Substantive Laws of Belize, Revised Edition 2020, to extend exemptions from taxes and duties for the continued development of the cogeneration energy project is before the House of Representatives. Prime Minister and Minister of
The post Government looks to extend ASR/BSI BELCOGEN tax exemptions appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
