BSCFA Ordered to Pay Over $560K for Mill Blockade

The High Court has ruled that the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association (BSCFA) and two of its members must pay more than BZD 560,000 in damages for their role in a three-day blockade of the BSI mill back in December 2021.

The court found that this action, though not officially sanctioned by the BSCFA, was effectively enabled by its leadership, who failed to intervene until a new agreement was reached.

Justice Rajiv Goonetilleke found that the blockade was a strategic move to pressure BSI during failed contract negotiations. The court awarded BSI BZD 520,674 in damages and granted BZD 43,456 in damages to Belize Cogeneration Energy Limited, which could not operate without access to BSI’s byproduct, bagasse.

Attorney Hector Guerra explained, “This case was grounded in the economic tort called unlawful interference with economic interest. This is the first time that a case like this has been fully litigated and upheld within a court in Belize.”

Guerra added that BSCFA had warned BSI of its intent to block the mill if commercial talks failed. “The BSCFA had, in a meeting, declared to BSI that if they could not come to some agreement in terms of what the commercial agreement would look like, they would, in fact, block the mill, and they also asserted that no other association or other farmers would be allowed to deliver sugarcane to the mill. So that forms the backdrop, the factual basis upon which this claim was launched,” he said.

The court found the farmers trespassed on BSI’s compound, intentionally blocked access, and caused financial harm. The ruling also noted that BSI and BCEL could have mitigated some of their losses but failed to do so.

“This was never about a monetary sum. It’s not about the figure; it’s about the underlying principle. It’s about upholding economic interest and ensuring that parties engage with respect for each other,” Guerra added.