And for the prime minister, home is where the heart is, and his heart is in the Orange Walk cane fields. He told us today that the sugar industry is important - not just for the economy of Belize - but for all the nortenos who depend on it - including his own family.
He says he hopes that ASR/BSI can see what it means for the everyday Sugar City resident - while still hoping the cane farmers can accept a suitable compromise. And for this to happen, the PM believes the government needs to act as sort of a mediator.
But that's a long ways off, and the sugar season needs to get going - or at least, that's what we thought, but a man who identifies as cane farmer, PM Briceno, advised us that it's probably best that the crop opening was delayed.
Hon. John Briceno, Prime Minister
"It is important for people to realize especially the investors, to realize the emotional connection that we in the north have with sugar, Who knows, maybe thanks to the sugar industry that probably I am prime minister today, because my father used to work with BSI and when George Price back then negotiated with Tate and Lyle to sell the sugar fields to the Belizeans, my father saw a wonderful opportunity and he encouraged my uncles to be able to take advantage of that opportunity and they use that to be able to invest and to be able to send us to school, to 6th form and myself to university. I think I am among the first from my family that graduated from university and like me there are thousands of us in the north that have benefitted from the sugar industry and we have to ensure that we protect the interest of the farmers. Now I say this, but I need to add also that we also need to protect the interest of the investors ASR/BSI that they came to Belize not because they love us, but because they want to make money and that is fine as long as we do not take advantage of our farmers."
"Our farmers believe that they could come up with a better method of payment and B.S.I. has been resisting. So, now they are getting to an impasse. I believe if we are getting to an impasse and their contract is coming to an end next month, we have to as a government be able to step in as an honest broker, sit with two parties and try to come with a negotiation that would be fair to everybody."
Reporter
"There are major impacts and implications for the fact that it was supposed to start and it's not starting and we don't know when it will start. Its in an impasse."
Hon. John Briceno, Prime Minister
"Respectfully, I really don't know where you get your facts and how you could say about major implications. There are no implications, simply because the crop has not started yet, Secondly, the amount of rain that we've having over the past week, it would be counter-production to start thye sugar crop right now. The cane is going to be full of water, so we are going to use a lot more cane to be able to produce a ton of sugar. Thirdly, the roads are going to be in such of a bad state and we are going to brreak up the roads even more and we are going to break up the trucks and tractors and fourthly, BSI is going to be complaining that the cane that we are getting is not good quality and it also have a lot of mud, so probably maybe it's the best thing that we hold it back a few days so that the sun could come out and start to dry up a little bit. Those are the facts and trust me, I am a cane farmer. My brother own about 1,500 tons of cane. I've worked the cane fields, I've cut cane, I've driven the tractor to deliver, so I know that industry."
