And Mai also said that the results of the Commission of Inquiry need to be made public so that changes can be made. He explained that the survival of the industry depends on it.
Jose Mai, Minister of Agriculture
"I think what should be very important is for the commissioner of inquiry to be, the results of that, the commission of inquiry needs to be aerated, needs to be discussed to see what is in there that could help the industry come back. I don't want to see the sugar industry crumble under the PUP government, that is not what we expect it to be, we want the industry to survive. Clearly there has to be changes, there has to be some serious changes to the industry and if those changes are not done, we won't survive and this has to come from the farm up to manufacturing, that is why we commission, the prime minister commissioned and inquiry to see where the weaknesses are and see what we can do to fix it including the legislation. That is the first thing we need to look at. The commissioner of inquiry recommends I think legislation. Legislation that will not, it has to be fair, it cannot be legislation that violates the rights of either parties. So again there's work to be done. We standby if we are called upon to assist. I am still the area rep for close to 800 cane farmers. As a matter of fact, Orange Walk South is the biggest sugar cane farm producing in Orange Walk."
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