Turning now to the agriculture sector, the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association recently won a lawsuit against ASR-BSI and Tate & Lyle Sugars for fairtrade premiums that they believe are owed to them from the 2021 to 2023 crop years. And while this is a victory for the BSCFA, it is also the start of a long legal battle. We asked the Minister of Agriculture for a comment on this today and here's how he responded.
Jose Mai, Minister of Agriculture
"It's about money, money owed to the cane farmers, the farmers want their money and I think the ruling in court states that Tate and Lyle will be apart in the claims they were not dismissed, you are apart of it and therefore have to stay and be a part of the case. The tricky thing here is that well that matter is in court I don't want to discuss more details about it the matter is in court but the farmers want their money and at a point in time where the fields are in bad shape the money could be well implemented in controlling and mitigating the effects of fusarium we have a very low crop we have a very low sugar content and so the industry is in very bad shape but yes the farmers are asking for their money they want their money."
