Those awful sugar roads in northern Belize should be getting some real work done on them. The money will come from the European Union as part of its continued support for the sugar and banana industries. Two financing agreements were signed this morning in Belmopan by Prime Minister Dean Barrow and head of delegation of the European Commission to Belize, Marco Mazzochi Alemanni. They are for a combined 7.8 million Euros or $22.7 million. $17.5 million of that will go to the sugar industry and the other $5.25 million to the banana industry. A government release says that “this year’s programme of activities will focus on the improvement of the ‘sugar belt road network’.”
And while $17 million sounds generous, don’t mistake compensation for charity. The money comes as after cancellation of the sugar protocol which will cost Caribbean economies billions of dollars in earnings over the next few years. As part of the changes to the sugar protocol, the European Union is reducing the price it pays for sugar coming from ACP countries by 36% over four years, which started in 2006.
