FIRST CARIBBEAN BANK DESTROYS FRESH CATCH

Earlier this week, The Belize Times was informed that the situation at Fresh Catch, the largest tilapia farm in Belize had worsened dramatically. Fresh Catch is located in La Democracia and is owned by the Mena family and was put into receivership by First Caribbean Bank in the middle of last month.

Efforts by this newspaper to interview the receiver a Craig Waterman from Barbados were unsuccessful. We have however learned that he left the country and returned to Barbados to celebrate Kadooment and Independence Day in Barbados. We were only able to confirm this by visiting his Facebook page where there were enough pictures to confirm that he was indeed in Barbados having a jolly good time.

The Belize Times has been able to confirm that a series of crises occurred at the Farm whilst Waterman was in Barbados. We understand that the farm suffered a blackout and the standby generator did not work because there was no fuel. The gas station that had regularly supplied the farm with diesel had cut credit because the receivers refused to pay the outstanding bill. The failure of the generator meant that the water was stagnant for more than six hours. We are told that this has seriously affected the nearly 5 million fish that are in the ponds.

Members of the Mena family refused to comment when we contacted them and directed us to Eamon Courtenay. When we contacted Courtenay he said “the family is considering its options. The receivers have been grossly negligent and there is a consequence for negligence. People who party in Barbados while fish are suffering will have to answer for their actions one day.”

We have confirmed that the receivers have only just ordered feed for the fish. Feed is bought in Guatemala and it will take about one week before it is available to be used to feed the fish. The Department of Environment has met with the receivers and warned them of the major environmental consequences that they are facing. In fact, since the meeting with the environment the situation has deteriorated. The main pump on the farm broke down earlier this week and the expert mechanic who is retained to service the pump has refused to fix it citing the receivers refusal to pay him in advance. The Belize Times has been reliably informed that as a result of this standoff water from the ponds is now overflowing into the Sibun River. Our checks at the Department of the Environment revealed that they had yet to visit the farm to inspect this serious state of affairs. We were unable to find out whether the water was toxic or what effect it would have on the residents of La Democracia who are downstream from the Farm.

We tried to reach Glen Smith the local manager of First Caribbean but we were told that he was unavailable.

This situation is alarming. It appears that none of the receivers have ever managed a fish farm. They are not from Belize and are not familiar with the local business community or practices. This has caused them to make a number of missteps. Speaking with an attorney who is not representing any of the parties involved, she said that the liability of the bank and the receivers in a case such as this could run into the millions if negligence is proved against them. She declined to express an opinion on the potential case as she said that she did not know all the facts. However, when we described the environmental problems she said “That’s a problem. There are serious criminal offences and penalties.”

Last week a local television station reported that the receivers were working without proper papers and had been stopped by the Immigration Department. A source at Immigration informed that the receivers had applied for the proper papers and that their applications are being processed. We asked how could they be processed if they and already broke the law, the officer replied “lets wait and see what happens.”

When and where this will all end we don’t know. But it seems that First Caribbean Bank and its receivers are facing serious trouble. It seems that this one will likely be resolved in the Courts.

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