Sugar Industry Commission of Inquiry Needs Time to Consult

The Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association is demanding that the Briceño administration fast-track the work of the sugar industry’s commission of inquiry. The agreed deadline for the commission to be established and its investigation to commence has passed. Well, Prime Minister John Briceño says he has already explained the hold up to the B.S.C.F.A. Here is what he told us.

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“I think the BSCFA if they and I have explained it to them, if they want to be fair, they would understand why it has not happened. It so happened that when the terms of the commission was presented, the minister in his haste to try to get this done quickly, there was not consultations with BSI and the three other associations. There were only consultations with the BSCFA. So the commission of inquiry is headed by the prime minister. It is my responsibility to ensure there are proper consultations by everyone. If you do not have proper consultations then you could have one of the associations or BSI not participate and if they do not participate then it is going to be a waste of time and money. We have contacted the two persons from Brazil that has done similar work in El Salvador and we are in the process of being able to sign a contract with them to be able to work with the other two person that are coming in. So we are working on that. It is of no use to call the commission of inquiry and nobody participates. It is a waste of time.”