In last Friday's news, we gave you an extended look into an internal dispute that is ramping up within the Corozal Sugar Cane Producers Association. That's one of the 3 smaller associations which was formed back in 2015, after the splintering of the mighty Belize Sugar Cane Farmer Association. As viewers are aware, there are several issues at play in this internal fight. Firstly, up until yesterday, the Association - according to Briceno Government Officials - was in violation of its by-laws to hold annual elections for the leadership posts. The Association's leadership justified that course action last week by insisting that social distancing and public health challenges with COVID have prevented them from holding an AGM.
Next, the leadership of the last duly-elected chairman, Vladimir Puck, and his colleagues on the Association's Board, was being challenged by some 34 farmers who were no longer members of the association. We are told that the dissenting faction against Puck and his colleagues is closer to about 100 farmers. Among the dissenters is Everaldo Uk, a farmer from Patchakan Village. Last week, Puck, the embattled chairman, insisted that he had no authority to apply on behalf of the Association to the Ministry of Health for permission to hold a Special General Meeting. But he did, and the Minister signed off on that meeting, provided that the participants were protected with proper COVID protocols.
So, that takes us to yesterday's activity. One side, the incumbents, insisted that it was illegal, while the dissenting faction moved ahead with the blessing of the Sugar Industry Control Board acting as referee.
You'll remember last Thursday when Puck and his colleagues on the board insisted that this was an "illegal" meeting. They urged the voting members, some 596 farmers, not to show up and support. Well, multiple sources tell us that 116 farmers - less than half the entire membership - showed up at the venue at the Corozal Community College Auditorium.
It is unclear what type of democratic process happened. Some sources suggest that an election took place; others say that Everaldo Uk and his other allies were endorsed as the new Board of Directors of the Association.
Nevertheless, Uk and the new Board now have a claim to leadership through a process overseen by the Sugar Industries Control Board and the Chairman, Marcos Osorio. Osorio did not respond to our requests for comment, but we understand that this claim to leadership is already being called into question by observers for multiple reasons.
Firstly, the meeting did not meet the required numbers for a quorum. Then, there is the initial objection that Uk and the other 33 non-members had no authority to call for the Special General Meeting. They also made up part of the 116 farmers who showed up yesterday. Well, they have a claim to legitimacy as part of the association.
Viewers will remember that fight that broke out between Puck and those non-members on December 27th, the start of the new sugar crop season. They were insisting that they should be recognized for their cane deliveries as members of the CSCPA. When they showed up, they were being classified as independent farmers.
Well, later that day, Chairman Marcos Osorio wrote to the other stakeholders of the SICB that those 34 be reinstated as members of the CSCPA.
