Hours before announcement of Sugar Industry Commission of Inquiry, BSCFA vents frustration at “petty excuses” from P.M. and Government for delay

By Aaron Humes: The Commission of Inquiry into the sugar cane industry of Belize promised two months ago has now been established – and not a moment too soon for the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association (BSCFA).

In a statement issued on Tuesday evening, hours after the BSCFA fulminated at a press conference they called in Orange Walk Town, the Government said, “The commission is expected to review the entire value chain of the sugarcane industry to establish the benchmark costs, determine efficiencies and recommend measures to increase efficiencies. Specifically, the commission is to determine the cost of sugarcane farming, harvesting, and transporting, as well as sugar manufacturing, operating, transportation, and logistics costs.”

According to the Gazette Extraordinary printed on Tuesday, the listed commissioners are Wayne Piper, Robert Marriette, Vinod Ramharai, Jeffery Joseph, Andy Church, and Simon Gibbons, with Piper as chairman. The Gazette also lists more thoroughly the expected items of review and the expectation that the inquiry shall be held in public.

Meanwhile, the BSCFA pounced on the Prime Minister’s statement last Friday that “further consultations” had been needed before the establishment of the Commission. The promises from Belmopan, said Alfredo Ortega, Vice-Chairman, were that the Commission would be started in 30 days from the date of signature of the agreement that ended the standoff at the start of the cane season. As for consultations, he said, those had been in train from last year: “Consultations [were] done long before. Consultations [were] done from July of last year. Even in the document, he says that Cabinet has already approved for the commission of inquiry to do their work.”

Javier Keme, Chairman of the BSCFA’s Finance Committee, added that while the Northern Sugar Cane Growers Association (NSCGA) and BSCFA participated, the Progressive Sugar Cane Producers Association (PSCPA) and BSI did not despite multiple invitations, although BSI asked to name two of the Commissioners. By talking about further consultation, he said, the P.M. was “disrespecting the cane farmers, he disrespected a team that he authorized to work on this commission of inquiry terms of reference. He was the one [who] authorized this work to start from the beginning. And in his statement, he disrespected them that they didn’t do the job he told them to do.”

Ortega mentioned political implications as well, saying bluntly, “Let me remind him that in (Orange Walk and Corozal) town is a very small percentage of cane farmers that voted for the Town Council election and let us put it very clear, the Town Council results came by the works the council is doing, not by him (the Prime Minister).”

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