BELIZE CITRUS GROWERS NEW BOARD OF DIRECTORS ARE POLITICAL OPPORTUNISTS?

CITRUS GROWERS ASSOCIATION FLOUNDERING UNDER NEW ELECTED BOARD

This is an OPINION article from impressions and the opinions are solely my own.
By Ray Auxillou, August, 2010

The struggle for control of the Citrus Factory is going to end in disaster. What opinion I’ve formed, as a non-participant, is that the CITRUS FACTORY as an independent legal entity needs to be kept separate from the CGA.
The Board is made up of the CGA shareholders who have the majority, but do not control decisions totally, because of the clauses in the INVESTMENT AGREEMENT by the $65 million dollars spent by the minority shareholder, BANKS HOLDINGS to build the factory and marketing system.
What is needed is to keep the FACTORY as an independent company based on the profit and well financed motive. In order to make a success of the citrus industry. With two sets of shareholders, all either can really expect, or should expect from their participation and investment is the return on DIVIDENDS to be shared by either side shareholders. How the CGA divide that among their couple thousand producers I don’t know? It is however, THEIR PROBLEM. This BOARD of the CGA should be dealing with this problem and that of better grove maintainance. Siphoning money out of the FACTORY is NOT THE ANSWER.

The actions of the current BOARD OF DIRECTORS of the CITRUS GROWERS ASSOCIATION reek of the smell of opportunism. I have formed the impression over the months of debate on television, that the new BOARD are nothing more than opportunists, POLITICIANS if you will, playing on the emotions of the small growers they are representing. In return for their misleading actions, they are pushing an agenda that seemingly wants to turn both the CITRUS FACTORY and the CITRUS GROWERS ASSOCIATION into a gravy train, to get money for per diems, expense trips, Board Directors fees, both from the CGA and also from the Citrus Factory and any other intermediary legal entity holding the CGA shares. They also apparently have the ultimate goal of turning the CITRUS FACTORY and the CGA growers into a COOPERATIVE. The CGA is a cooperative in fact, if not title, as an association. However the FACTORY must in my opinion; be kept separate as a legal business entity, without giving this CGA BOARD the opportunity to wreck the CITRUS FACTORY COMPANY finances. Obviously if this CGA BOARD have their way, they will take out monies and make the FACTORY borrow loans, to favor their voting constituents in the CGA and to HELL with the CITRUS INDUSTRY. This BOARD is looking at short term, money for their personal management services on which they can live well, if not totally to the exclusion of anything else. In the end, they will wreck the FACTORY company and also by implication, make the CGA members worse off than before. They would if allowed, trample over their minority foreign investors shares.

It has been done before and one can see the writing on the wall, that this is the goal of this CGA Board of Directors, acting not in the best interests of the citrus industry, but in their OWN INTERESTS, milking the cow for their own purposes.

It would be better indeed, if they get $65 million and buy out the minority shareholders. I doubt anybody lending money in their right mind would lend the CGA this amount though? Their industry management skills are ZERO! If they were any good, they would be finding ways to improve the citrus trees and small grower groves through cooperative effort of their membership. It can be done, look at any fishing cooperative as an example. If their voters and membership want more money the only LOGICAL way to get that, is to see the FACTORY makes TONS of profits and give a hefty dividend to be shared among their CGA membership. That is the long term PROPER WAY of dealing with this. Not the way this new CGA BOARD OF DIRECTORS are operating.