Sugar Industry Commission of Inquiry Public Hearing Rescheduled

The public hearing for the Commission of Inquiry into the Sugar Cane Industry, initially scheduled for today, Friday, August 30th, has been postponed. The stakeholders who were set to testify today will now appear on Thursday, September 5th.

While the commissioners will continue to work and review additional information submitted during the hearings, today’s meetings and discussions will not be livestreamed.

Public hearings and livestreaming will resume on Saturday, August 31st, at the conference room of Escuela Secundaria Mexico in San Roman Village, Corozal District. These sessions will be broadcast live on the Government of Belize Press Office Facebook page. The stakeholders scheduled for Saturday’s session include the Northern Sugar Cane Farmers Association (NSCFA) and various arms of the Sugar Industry Control Board (SICB), such as the Sugar Cane Production Committee (SCPC) and the Sugar Industry Research and Development Institute (SIRDI).

On Monday, September 2nd, the hearings will move to the Ministry of Agriculture’s conference room at the agriculture showgrounds in Belmopan, where Santander Sugar will present before the Commission on Monday and Tuesday, September 2nd and 3rd, discussing their sugarcane production operations and factory practices. On Wednesday, September 4th, the hearings will return to Escuela Secundaria Mexico’s conference room, where Belize Electricity Limited (BEL) and the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) will participate.

The final public hearing will be on Thursday, September 5th, with the Corozal Sugar Cane Producers Association (CSCPA) and the Progressive Sugar Cane Farmers Association (PSCFA) scheduled to appear at Escuela Secundaria Mexico. The conclusion of these hearings will mark the end of the public inquiry process.