B.S.C.F.A. Demands Immediate Establishment of Commission of Inquiry

Oscar Alonzo

And, while B.S.C.F.A. says it supports the Government of Belize in the implementation of the latest regulations, it is also requesting that the Cabinet approved Commission of Inquiry to examine the modernization of the industry be established immediately. The new sugar industry regulations do not address the association’s longstanding dissatisfaction with the method for sugarcane payment currently outlined in the interim commercial agreement. Oscar Alonzo explained that the Commission of Inquiry will reveal why their demands for a new method of payment is justifiable.

Oscar Alonzo, Chief Executive Officer, B.S.C.F.A

“The Fairtrade premium is being used as a distraction to the farmers. It is being provided as an additional payment to them to say, look if you comply with these standards you get an additional premium on the price of your cane. It makes the farmers look away from the real root, how the price of cane is calculated. In my view personally, fine if Fairtrade goes, let them go. But, that will open up the eyes of the farmers from the other associations and join our struggle to get that commission of an inquiry established immediately to get to the root of the true cost of what BSI is imposing on the farmers so that we could get a fair price for the cane. So, the quicker that happens for us, maybe perhaps it might be for the better.”