BELMOPAN, Belize – Prime Minister John Briceño has welcomed the two-year agreement between the Belize Sugar Industries Limited (BSI) and the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association (BSCFA) ending the impasse that had affected this year’s sugar crop.
Prime Minister John Briceno (center) as stakeholders sign new agreement.“In the interest of the very important sugar industry, the government of Belize for several months decided to get involved to try to resolve the differences between the BSCFA and BSI,” Briceño said following the signing of the agreement.
As a result of the agreement, all stakeholders are hoping for an end to the series of demonstrations and road blockades.
The agreement was initially anticipated to have been be signed last Friday but disagreements over the economic analysis proposal led to a stalemate.
However, the accord was signed late on Monday night and Prime Minister Briceño said it was decided to have all parties in a room to finalize the negotiations.
“As with any agreement, the devil was in the details,” he said, acknowledging that following a brief stalemate, “ I sanctioned both parties and their lawyers to sit in a room and not to leave until we have an agreement.
“Now we have an agreement. I’m happy to announce that the SAFRA, as we know the sugar cane season, can now commence normally with all sugar cane farmers associations delivering and the mail processing at optimum,” he added.
