Yesterday, Santander said It's good and ready to supply Belize with local sugar - a home-grown alternative to importing high priced refined sugar from the US. They say all they want is someone in government to allow them to make a case as a local supplier.
Well, tonight government is saying they had their chance and they missed it. A statement this evening from the Ministry of Agriculture said the ministry contacted Santander as early as September last year to verify whether they had any sugar available to alleviate the shortage. The statement says, quote, "Santander was very clear that they did not have any sugar available."
That's when government gave the green light for the importation of 250 tonnes of sugar - about two weeks supply. That imported stock will be done by the end of next week and you should expect local sugar back on shelves in February.
The statement adds that Santander's operations are governed by the Designated Processing Area Act, which limits the sale of their production to export markets. Quote, "Local market access would, therefore, need to be provided for through a special dispensation." End quote.
Clearly that dispensation will not come right now but government says that during the current crop, the Ministry will engage both BSI and Santander to ensure that a shortage of white and/or brown sugar does not occur again.
