Last week we told how the Maya King Farm was abruptly cut off by the Banana Growers Association - who has decided that it will no longer buy bananas from the biggest farm in Belize. That's a deathblow for a farm that was already on life support. The issue is that Fyffes international was helping Maya King with some bridge financing during lean months of low production. But John Zabaneh told us that Fyffes was helping - and we reported it. That's what apparently set off alarms in Ireland where Fyffes is headquartered. And that's because of the Kingpin designation that the US put on John Zabaneh - who, even though, he's no longer the beneficial owner or point man at Maya King, is still affiliated with the farm. It seems that bot even Fyffes - the biggest importer of fruit in Europe - can afford to do business with any company that has the kingpin taint.
And so, that severing of relations forced the immediate shut down of operations at Maya King, causing the loss of hundreds of jobs for all the Maya King Farm workers. Today, Zabaneh told us that Maya King has been forced to open a soup kitchen and offer free lunches, as well as corn and beans to keep the workers fed. Zabaneh says the affected workers and their families - which is over a thousand persons - will protest against Fyffes for causing them to lose their jobs without even a days notice.
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Last week we told how the Maya King Farm was abruptly cut off by the Banana Growers Association - who has decided that it will no longer buy bananas from the biggest farm in Belize. That's a deathblow for a farm that was already on life support. The issue is that Fyffes international was helping Maya King with some bridge financing during lean months of low production. But John Zabaneh told us that Fyffes was helping - and we reported it. That's what apparently set off alarms in Ireland where Fyffes is headquartered. And that's because of the Kingpin designation that the US put on John Zabaneh - who, even though, he's no longer the beneficial owner or point man at Maya King, is still affiliated with the farm. It seems that bot even Fyffes - the biggest importer of fruit in Europe - can afford to do business with any company that has the kingpin taint.