By now every Belizean should know about the terms of the dispute between the Citrus Growers Association and various groups including Citrus Products of Belize Limited, Belize Citrus Mutual and the Barbadian Beverage Company, Banks Holdings. After all, they’ve been on the news dozens of times and have consumed inches and inches of column space in the newspapers.
But tonight, there is a new development to report after a landmark Supreme Court judgment was issued this morning. The case dates back to 2009 when HTA Bowman Limited – which is the single largest independent citrus producer – took the Attorney General, the Citrus Control Board, the Citrus Grower’s Association and the Citrus Products of Belize Limited to court, claiming that the licenses to deliver citrus which only they can issue were unconstitutional because they restricted the freedom of association constitutionally guaranteed to every citrus farmer.
In 2007 – the mandatory “cess” payments to the Citrus Growers Association was also ruled unconstitutional, so this was a logical succession but while foreseeable, it is still hugely consequential because it means that the monopoly that the CGA had has been dissolved. See, how it worked was, you had to become a paying member of the Citrus Growers association to get a license to deliver oranges to the Citrus Products of Belize factor.
That was the system created to fund the Association and assure its sustenance and it was enshrined in the Citrus Processing and Production Act. But that was generated in the late 60’s before the Belize Constitution of 1981 which assured citizens the right to freedom of association. It was challenged last year and today Justice Minnette Hafiz Bertram ruled that the Citrus Processing and Production Act is in contravention of sections 13(1) and 15(1) of the Belize Constitution.
She granted an injunction to restrain the Citrus Growers association or the Citrus Control Board from issuing producers licenses to sell and deliver citrus only to members of the Citrus Growers Association; or requiring Citrus Products of Belize Limited to purchase or take delivery of citrus only from members of the Citrus Growers’ Association.
So, that’s it – four decades of industry dominance ended. And no one was happier than William Bowman, the principal of HTA Bowman Limited. He produces a full 10% of the product processed by CPBL and has also broken away from the Citrus growers association. He visited our studio today to discuss the implications of the judgment and the way ahead for an embattled industry. He spoke with Jules Vasquez and Amandala’s Adele Ramos.
William Bowman, Citrus Grower
“It makes me feel happy to see Jules that maybe what we’re fighting for and have won today will further better the citrus industry. We have been granted or freedom of association which the old Act did not. We had to be a member of the Citrus Growers Association to get a license to be able to deliver our fruits. That was unconstitutional. I do feel a sense of freedom, especially in the fact of delivery of fruits because before you had to have a license from the Citrus Growers Association, you had to be a member of the CGA to get a license to be able to deliver fruit. That is not there anymore.
An injunction was also granted stopping the CGA from insisting on this license and that would prevent the citrus processing facilities to accept the fruit. They have been ordered to accept all fruit from any grower, in other words we have the freedom of association and the right to earn a living in the citrus industry without having to be part of any group. The constitution gives you the right to earn a living, that’s it. It doesn’t say you have to be a member of any association to be able to grow citrus delivered. If you want to be a single citrus grower and deliver your fruit they cannot stop you and the factory must take your fruit.”
It’s the end of 40 years of paramountcy for the Citrus Growers; Association, an association which Bowman’s son chairs and which runs in the family.
William Bowman,
“My grandfather was the first Chairman, my father was Chairman for many many years, I think I can safely brag by saying that I have been the longest reigning Chairman of that CGA and it ran well and stepping away from it has not been easy because I spent the biggest part of my life helping to build it but to watch the direction it was being taken in, how destructive to me it was ending up, I had to move away.”
And now Bowman has his own group whose power is in its share of the production not the numbers of its membership, per se.
William Bowman,
“We have an association already formed, it is registered, it is called Belize Citrus Mutual and we want to see how we can move ahead. The scope of membership at this point is about just about 30 but a lot of waiting on this decision. This decision is here now and I think we will see many more move forward wanting to be a part of something they believe in. The 30 may represent about 25%.”
That loss in productive membership is a huge blow to the Citrus Growers Association.
William Bowman,
“I have to be honest in saying if they lose 15% and that 15% are the bigger growers then they have lost more than 90% of the production because that is where they get their funding from. That is the key. They can hold 90% of the growers but what production do they have.”
Jules Vasquez,
“Is that a desired outcome from your perspective?”
William Bowman,
“No.”
Jules Vasquez,
“But is it inevitable?”
William Bowman,
“It is not inevitable, it is possible. Remember 90% of the growers produce 10%. 10% of the growers produce 90%. But what you are saying is if I was losing the vast majority of my members, it is time to take a good look at what we are doing, seeing why we are losing them and see what we could do to bring this thing together.”
Jules Vasquez,
“It can be argued that the status quo was protecting a lot of small farmers, both in citrus and sugar, and that undermining or undoing that status quo with the use of the law will have a deleterious effect, will marginalize these people on a permanent basis. Are you in agreement that it may go the wrong way?”
William Bowman,
“Those are possibilities but I don’t think it will go that way.”
And for Bowman what’s best is abandoning the CGA’s principle of one man one vote.
William Bowman,
“Nobody wants to destroy the CGA but then if others want to form their own association then we must move ahead. For instance there is the one man one vote that they are insisting on and the Prime Minister has assured the CGA that he will support the CGA and the one man-one vote and that’s fine, I say I agree, but to get it to move ahead we have to increase our production. To increase our production we have to get rid of the fears of being dictated to, nobody wants to come in unless there is big money and be told especially on the basis of the one man-one vote which the small growers will always rule with the one man-one vote what they have to do. We won’t get investors to come in. All we are saying is as investors, we need to vote our production. This is the bone of contention, the one man-one vote rules. But if you go to a BTL or a BEL meeting you are not voting one man-one vote – you are voting the stock that you own, the shares that you bought. That is what you vote and that is all we are asking for.”
Jules Vasquez,
“The critics may say that you represent or that you are a part of the large interests who really want to control the industry and don’t want to be held hostage to the whims of small farmers who do not carry the load or represent the interests that you do. How do you respond to that criticism?”
William Bowman,
“I will certainly say I don’t want to control or own the industry. If that was our aim we would have done it long ago.”
Jules Vasquez,
“Critics would argue this is all part of an orchestrated play to in fact to undermine them and to disenfranchise them of that ownership which perhaps the Citrus Belize Mutual would be happy to take up. Do you envision Citrus Belize Mutual, it is in your goals and objectives, to own a citrus operation? Is that something that is on the event horizon from your perspective?”
William Bowman,
“Have you ever read a memorandum and articles of association? It grants everything including a citrus processing facility or a shop in Hopkins if you want and that’s in there because it is part of it. There is no intention of bringing in another citrus operating facility. I state that categorically. We have no intention of that and never had that intention.”
Adele Ramos, Amandala
“I know you told Jules that there is no intention of opening a processing plant but what if a situation exists whereby perhaps shares in CPBL or maybe the CPBL itself is up for sale? Will Belize Citrus Mutual then consider acquiring or acquiring shares in a processing plant?”
William Bowman,
“It would be looked. I don’t know whether it would be yes or no but everything has to be assessed and if it is feasible, yes.”
But right now Bowman says the priority is to find accord between growers groups – who are now on equal standing.
Jules Vasquez,
“Without the contribution from the large citrus producers, the CGA may foreseeable wither away.”
William Bowman,
“Jules the best thing I can see in this point in time will be for all parties to get together around the table and have serious discussions as to how to resolve this problem. CGA has serious problems and serious debts. I won’t say I would walk away from it without helping, I am part of it. But let’s get together and see how we can come to some conclusion on a way forward. Nothing is impossible if you are going to have serious discussions. Nobody has to win, let the citrus industry win.”
Adele Ramos,
”But there is more turmoil in the industry.”
William Bowman,
“What is smooth in life?”
Bowman says his family has a history in the citrus industry going back 87 years. The four defendants each have to pay 25% of Bowman’s legal costs.
Denzil Jenkins of the Citrus Growers Association today told Adele Ramos that the CGA is in no way perturbed because the judgment was a foregone conclusion after the cess judgment of 2007. He says what they are really looking forward to is the courts ruling on the directorship of Citrus Products of Belize Limited whether the defiant directors should stay or go. That ruling may come by the end of this month.
And there’s one more important comment and it’s from the Prime Minister. As Bowman mentioned in his interview, government has remained 100% committed to the Citrus Growers Association. Well, the PM today re-iterated that the government remains determined to ensure that there is some kind of growers group to protect the industry and provide support to farmers. But without membership payments to the Citrus Growers Association how will it work. The PM said in that case government will have to figure out a way to get money from the industry – even if it means taxing every box of product that comes out of the factory. He admitted that this is not a desirable position so he continues to hope that somehow both sides can still come together in the common interest of avoiding such an outcome.
