Sometime after 6:00 pm tonight, negotiations between the BSCFA and ASR/BSI at the Yo Creek Agricultural Station broke for the day after no compromise was reached. Both sides will resume negotiations tomorrow.
It's The end of a long day that started auspiciously as for the first time in months, the sirens at the BSI ASR factory resonated across Orange Walk Town, signaling the start of the sugar crop season, indicating that that the mill is now open and the farmers can begin trucking in their cane. And while some farmers were lined up and ready at the factory, another group was protesting in town. Jo Marie Lanza reported from both sides:
And as the first few trucks made their way into the compound here at Tower Hill, BSI's Director of Finance told us today that they are already behind schedule, and functioning only at 50% capacity.
Shawn Chavarría, BSI, director of finance
"We are pleased to see today that there is security out here. I think if you go around the highways, you'll see checkpoints at different locations on the Philip Goldson highway Which is really good, I think that is a signal to farmers that the government will do its part to ensure that the rule of law is upheld, and that they can deliver their cane without any interruption or disruptions. So that is a very good sign from our end. We are here. We are ready. Our boilers are lit. We are getting our turbine online. We have trucks here at the queue already. We will start receiving it shortly, and once we have accumulated a sufficient amount of cane then we will commence the milling. And we think once farmers, see that the crop is starting then we will start seeing more activity. It is really important that we get the crop going starting late December is not good. It puts us out of a cycle with our sugarcane. We ideally want to finish the crop by late May or early June to avoid going deep into the rainy season and therefore starting early December is really important but you know we are pleased that we are here today to get the crop going. We have the three other association who have 2000 farmers that are ready to deliver cane and so we are happy to make a start and we hope that the BSCFA farmers can show up or alternatively we will reach an agreement with the BSCFA."
Out of the three associations who showed up to deliver their cane today was the Corozal Sugar Cane Producers. Their chairman says that their members have invested close to 1.5 million in equipment and preparation towards this crop season.
Vladimir Puc, Chairman, Corozal Sugar Cane Producers Association
"We are very glad first of all no that, that little sound you guys heard a while ago that's the signal to start delivering cane right it's been more than a year since we heard it but we are very positive this year to start this crop no and on behalf of the CSCPA I can clearly state that my cane farmers are ready to start to bring in their trucks. At the moment they are loading and some of them had a little late start but let's hope the weather holds up and they manage to load."
"The preparations as per normal with our cane farmers they get their trucks ready during the off crop right, the cane fields they have invested into their trucks. Just at this moment in time just a quick number in CSCPA I did some numbers there and the investment that the cane farmers do on their equipment is close to 1.5 million dollars and that is just representing CSCPA for them to get ready to start a crop."
And while the BSCFA's presence was anywhere but the mill today, the association is firm on their stance not to deliver any cane until they have their demands signed and down in black and white. And so they formed a protest today, which eventually made its way in front of the prime minister's home, clamoring for a signed agreement and better benefits.
Alfredo Ortega, BSCFA Chairman
"Well we are looking for a signature that the association will do for at least one year for what BSI has put open for the farmers that they can deliver without signing any agreement. We know that once the farmer does that it is the end of that farmer because he will be directly out of the BSCFA and that is what we don't want to happen we want our farmers to be covered under our association and that is why we are asking the help and the assistance of the government to assist us to sign that agreement so that farmers are covered under the association."
Until the association manages to overcome it's current dilemma with a new commercial agreement BSI has offered to mill their cane despite this.
Shawn Chavarría, BSI, director of finance
"So the mill has along with the power plant two boilers and two turbines. So if we don't get the cane from the BSCFA it means we only operate with one boiler and one turbine so we will be milling at a 50% capacity. It's not ideal but at least we get the crop going and get the cane in because we do need to start producing sugar. We do have contractual commitments that we need to meet and therefore something is better than nothing in our view. It has happened in the past two years where we were doing the revision project where we had to start at 50% capacity so it's not an unusual scenario for us but for us it's better to get you started as opposed to continuing to wait with no certainty as to when we will start the crop. I think we have shown that we are here and we will receive the cane farmers will start to come and I think the momentum will pick up."
"We have to also remember that we have 2000 farmers who want to deliver cane yes the BSCFA is 50% of the cane they have a 3000 membership but there is also 2000 other cane farmers in this industry that want to deliver cane that have agreements with us so there is a balance that has to be struck at the end of the day. We also have our contractual arrangements that we have to meet and commit to and so we saw this as a way to move forward to get the crop started without disrupting the industry significantly. It is simply a mechanism to allow the BSCFA to deliver their cane while their leadership makes a decision in terms of reaching a long-term commercial agreement."
But the BSCFA Chairman maintains that this is simply a mechanism to divide the association and it's members, and they refuse to give in.
Jo
"Sir Mr Chavarría says that the mill can function at 50% capacity, your response to this? Even though your association contributes the other 50% that they need to function at full capacity."
Alfredo Ortega, BSCFA Chairman
"Well as you know they are using all weapons they have to see how they can break the BSCFA because their move is to break the BSCFA and this is one of them that they are trying to do as one of their resorts but never the less we don't say that we don't want to deliver. We want to deliver the cane but not in the conditions that they are placing it. We want to have something that is very clear that will benefit our farmers, that our farmers will be covered under our association and that things will happen for the betterment of our farmers."
And Ortega will return to doing that tomorrow. As we have reported, both sides are inching closer to a negotiation - reports say that both sides would consider accepting a two year agreement - but the payment of Fair Trade Premiums continues to be outstanding.
We'll let you know how it goes tomorrow.
