Bad Roads Hit Cane Farmers Just Days Into New Crop

It’s only been eleven days since the 2025 sugar crop kicked off with high hopes after last year’s tough season, but already, cane farmers are running into trouble. One of the biggest setbacks they faced in 2025 is back again: roads are so bad that farmers simply can’t get their cane to the factory. Government says weeks of heavy rain stalled road repairs across the country, but now that the skies have cleared, work has finally started, just not everywhere. And that’s the problem. Tonight, the Chair of the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers’ Association says farmers in his area are still waiting, losing precious time and thousands of dollars as they struggle to move as much as eight tons of cane a day. News Five spoke with Chairman Salvador Martin today, and he’s calling on government to act quickly and get Northern Belize’s roads back in shape.

 

On the Phone: Salvador Martin, Chairperson, BSCFA

“We have been   disappointed because it almost ten days, that crop starts, eleven days and the nineteenth of this month, and you haven’t been touched the way we have expected to be done. That’s when they tell us it will be done. And for example, I could speak on behalf of my village that then we have a delivery every day of at least eighty tons and we are having delivery up to eleven days and we done short of more than one thousand tons on him and up today we can burn and continue to deliver because they haven’t reached to the sugar roads. I no have no doubt that the government have a good intention, but I can’t live on good intention. We have to be real. It’s a really, it’s a really pity that all branches have started and we can’t start. I feel so ashamed with my people because I make the tour with the government and I assure them that it will happen. And up to today it no di happened and so bad when my people question me, and I feel so ashamed and so disrespected because I don’t know if the government supposed to pay a contractor or whatsoever, to try to ensure that it happened, happen. And since the delay and he no di lose. We, the farmers are losing because I don’t know how I’ll get back one thousand tons I supposed to deliver and I haven’t delivered sake ah di the road that is not in good situation up to this moment.”

 

And tonight, farmers say all they want now is for government to keep its promise and get those northern sugar roads fixed so they can finally start delivering cane.