Enabling Approach, Not Over Regulation of Sugar Industry

The Vice President of ASR/BSI was also asked about the Sugar Industry Amendment Bill that stalled in the Senate on Monday. Echoing the sentiments of the Social Partners in the Senate, VP McLachlan asserts there should be less government intervention, controls and regulations.

Mac McLachlan

Mac McLachlan, VP of International Relations

“I am a firm believer that the private sector is the sector that is going to drive growth and jobs in Belize. I believe that whatever regulative approach is taken by the government, it should be an enabling approach. It should be an approach that permits business, associations, whatever, to get on and do their business. In most commercial…, there is recourse for dispute resolution through the courts. That would be the normal channel I think. What we, and this would be a broader issue I think, where we are in a regulatory nature in Belize. We are operating under a Sugar Act that we believe, and most people accept, contravenes the Constitution in a number of ways. From our perspective, as a business, and remember this is a business. This is not a government institution, it is a business. I think that we would rather see far less government intervention and control and regulation, than more. I think that is the way most industries developed. I think they are permitted to improve and move forward. We have submitted some very clear thoughts on the way, perhaps, the Sugar Act might be amended in the future. And, that is the gist of how we would see that taking place.”