Tonight, tensions are high in the north - everyone's waiting to see what tomorrow brings. ASR/BSI has made it clear it plans to proceed with the opening of the sugar crop tomorrow, but the largest growers association, the BSCFA has not signed a commercial agreement and so its three thousand plus members are not expected to make deliveries.
But, as we told you on Friday, ASR/BSI did a most unexpected thing - and reached out directly to BSCFA members - telling them they could deliver cane under an open agreement, regardless of what was going on with their association.
The Cane Farmers association viewed that as a hostile act to break their powerful association - and, tonight, reports say they are getting ready to demonstrate tomorrow.
Unfazed, ASR BSI is going ahead with opening the season - and today in a Zoom Press briefing, Director of Finance, Shawn Chavarria told us why this is the only way forward:
Shawn Chavarria, Director of Finance ASR/BSI
"We think this is the best way forward, given we were not seeing any signs of being able to reach an agreement."
"Our expectations is that everyone will uphold the law. We do have the case in 2021, December of 2021, when the the BSCFA blockaded or factory. We filed a lawsuit against the BSCFA for that matter."
"And so we expect that following that incident that cooler heads will prevail, that leaders will respect the rights of farmers of the mill to conduct business in a way that is free from any threats of violence, that there are no obstacles for farmers delivering their cane and that the rule of law will be upheld."
Jules Vasquez
"The BSCFA has put out a notice accusing you all of trying to break their organization by offering offering their members to make deliveries under this open agreement."
"Are you all trying to break the Belize Sugarcane Farmers Association?"
Shawn Chavarria, Director of Finance ASR/BSI
"Not at all. This isn't an attempt to break the back of the BSCFA. If anything, it's an arrangement to try to break the deadlock because we are at a deadlock. And rather than the parties reaching closer to signing a long term agreement, we are actually, the gap is widening because the BSCFA keeps putting new conditions."
"Now they want us to backpay two years of fair trade, the mill to do that. They also want us to become the convener of the fair trade premium. And for the past 18 months we've said no."
"So in our view, this isn't about trying to break the BSCFA apart, but trying to find a way forward near to be a smooth start of the crop to facilitate the members of the BSCFA to deliver their cane, because the alternative would have been to start without them, which for us would have been even more problematic."
