Back in January, Prime Minister John Briceno promised a Sugar Industry Commission of Inquiry - which would be named in 30 days. But hammering down the details proved much more difficult than expected and almost three months later - we'd say the Prime Minister kind of threw up the white flag.
A vague press release today says that the Prime Minister has approved the terms of reference as well as the appointment of the commissioners to the inquiry into the sugarcane industry of Belize. It does not bother to name the commissioners and simply says "The commission is expected to review the entire value chain of the sugarcane industry to establish the benchmark costs, determine efficiencies and recommend measures to increase efficiencies." Not much detail for a body upon which the future of the industry supposedly hangs.
And that may be because the Prime Minister seems to have conceded to his hawkish Minister of Agriculture and simply accepted his model for the Commission of Inquiry - which is perceived to be pro-BSCFA. Here's how the PM put it on Friday when he conceded that the model on the table was not representative of a cross section of interests:
John Briceno, Prime Minister
"I have said to them that there has to be proper consultations. There were not proper consultations. The way the commission of inquiry, the terms of reference were set out, it was a terms of reference for the BSCFA. So I am meeting with the minister on Monday and on Monday we're going to finalize the terms and then we're going to proceed but if we were proceed the way they want us to proceed, we would be wasting our time because we will be taken to court and the court is going to rule against us. We are not going to appeal just because they asked us to appeal, we have to see if there is a case and it seems that there is not a case to appeal. I am not going to waste the people's monies."
And, with that same sense of resignation it seems that's the model the Prime Minister is going with - one with a pro BSCFA terms of reference and one he expects will face legal challenges.
So, it remains to be seen whether BSI will judicially review the Commission of Inquiry or simply not participate in the proceedings. Either way we should note that the Prime Minister's capitulation comes after a blistering attack on him in a searing letter from the BSCFA last week as a proponent of heartless capitalism.
