San
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Wednesday, July 22,
2009 Belize's Only Daily |
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SEVENTH AMENDMENT CONSULTATIONS TO
BEGIN TODAY
On
Wednesday the House Constitution and Foreign Affairs Committee will
open the first in a series of countrywide consultations on a piece of
legislation that has sparked much debate from the day it was introduced
to the House of Representatives. It is the Constitution Seventh
Amendment Bill which, among other things, seeks to remove the British
Privy Council and Belize's final appellate court and to make provisions
for the appointment of an Attorney General who does not occupy a place
in either houses of parliament. But perhaps the part of the proposed
legislation that has sparked the most controversy and open debate so
far is the government's intention to seek approval of the National
Assembly to change the law which now currently bars persons who hold
dual nationalities from holding office in either the House of
Representatives of the Senate. It is a touchy subject and the chairman
of the Constitution and Foreign Affairs Committee, Minister Patrick
Faber says the general public will get a chance to voice their opinion
during the consultations.
Patrick Faber: Minister of Education “The consultation process does not end with the hearing that is held in that particular municipality. If for instance there are people who might miss the one in Belize City tomorrow night there are several others that are staggered all over the country. Even so after these public consultations are finished people can still submit in writing their concerns, their views, people can seek an audience with the committee at the time when it meets to discuss the recommendations that have been garnered as a result of these public consultations and also they can lobby their representatives to make amendments further at the time of the committee of the whole house just before the third reading. There are many, many opportunities aside from just attending these consultations in their respective municipalities that people would get to make their contributions known.” Patrick Jones, Reporting… Minister the talk show circuit has already had many inputs from the general public as it concerns a particular aspect of the bill, the one having to deal with the dual nationality, will the committee be taking a look at individual aspects of the bill or the bill on a whole? Patrick Faber: Minister of Education “There will be a power point presentation that will seek to outline the major changes that this bill seeks to make to the constitution. In it of course is the removal of the Privy Council as the final appellate court; we are replacing the Privy Council with the Caribbean Court of Justice as the final appellate court. We will also remove that dual citizenship disqualification for membership of the House of Representatives or Senate or at least the bill seeks to do that and also it provides for the appointment of the attorney general irrespective of membership of either the House or the Senate. All of these issues will be dealt with in that power point presentation. People from the general public attending these hearings can ask questions, can comment on any aspect of this bill.We will try as much as is possible to make available copies of the bill. There are two bills that we are looking at because there is the bill that is the seventh amendment bill and there is also the Caribbean Court of Justice bill that which would establish the CCJ as the final appellate court.We will try to make both of these bills available to the people once they arrive at the consultations and I am sure people can write in to the Clerk of the National Assembly to ask or request a copy of the bill before hand. We want as many people to become aware of what the facts are before the consultations and even during the consultations and after.” The first public consultation will take place in Belize City on Wednesday night at the Bishop Sylvestre Memorial Centre on Regent Street. Minister Faber says the public is assured that each opinion rendered, will be taken into consideration by his committee. Other members serving with Minister Faber on the Constitution and Foreign Affairs Committee are: Cayo South representative Ramon Witz, Minister of the Public Service John Saldivar, Minister of State in the Ministry of Social Transformation Nemencio Acosta, Orange Walk Central representative and Leader of the Opposition Johnny Briceno and Freetown area representative Francis Fonseca. Tomorrow night's meeting starts at seven thirty. LoveFM Expect Fireworks
Today
As we’ve been reporting over the past week,
there are many
investigations into missing public funds, but still no arrests. Today,
Sinquest Martinez, the lead investigator in the biggest case – which is
the one at the Government Treasury – told us that there will be a major
public development tomorrow and that we should, “expect fireworks.”
As we’ve reported second class treasury clerk Monica Escarpeta is under investigation for misappropriating upwards of two hundred thousand dollars in a pension fraud scheme that started in 2007. Two of her associates who do not work with government but do live in her neighbourhood are also being investigated. As regards both other criminal investigations into missing deposits at the western border and under-deposits at City Hall, the Director of Public Prosecutions is now in possession of the files in both of those cases, we are informed. CH7 Draft plan to improve
health information system 
The health system has come under the
microscope recently over
allegations of negligence and scandalous purchases, but when it comes
to information systems, there is some improvement in the works. The
Ministry of Heath, along with PAHO, the Health Metrics Network and the
National Health Information Systems Committee are spending two days at
the Biltmore conducting workshops. HMN has sponsored a consultant to
assist in drafting a five year national plan to improve the health
information system in Belize and the process is expected to be
completed by the end of august. National Epidemiologist, Ethan Gough,
told us what they hope to achieve during the two day workshop.
Ethan Gough, Natl Epidemiologist, Ministry of Health “The aim is for us to develop a health information system strengthening strategic plan. It’s to be at least a five year plan and it’s part of an initiative called Health Metrics Network, which is a World Health Organization initiative to strengthen Health information systems globally, including improving availability, access and quality of information. The process basically starts out with an assessment of what we have in place nationally and then using the result of that assessment to define problem areas and needs and developing a five year plan to strengthen the system.” Delahnie Bain “Could you tell us a bit more about what the plan should entail?” Ethan Gough “It entails a wide range of things but improving the dissemination and use of health information at all levels, resources and policies and legal framework to support health information system strengthening improving data management, defining key health indicators and also the health information system infrastructure meaning the information technology.” There was a similar workshop in August 2008 and the objectives and activities that were generated in that session are now being revisited and strengthened. CH5 LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
Why does
Government
permit reef destruction by trawlers? Dear Editor,
During the recent disclosures with respect to the Barrier Reef dying, a number of causes were attributed to the death of Belizean coral. There was one significant cause that was apparently either not known, or overlooked by the writers. The cause was the effect that trawlers have had on the destruction of Belize’s coral. Trawlers, often referred to as drag boats, create great clouds of sediment that boil to the surface, thereafter, settling on and stifling coral and other marine life, bringing about death to much of what it settles on. The trawlers pull behind them large open throat nets weighted down at the bottom of their forward end by a heavy chain. The chain digs into the bottom as the trawler pulls ahead. The chain destroys any coral in its path and causes great clouds of sediments to rise to the surface. Such sediment can be seen floating for hundreds of feet behind the trawler and as much as 100 feet each side of the path of the trawler. The sediment eventually settles back down, killing much of that which it settles on. The trawlers not only bring about the destruction of coral; they have effectively destroyed much of Belize’s fisheries. The trawlers drag the bottom to catch shrimp. In doing so, they scoop up and catch different species of fish and other forms of marine life. The catch that their nets scoop up, other than legal- size shrimp, is referred to as by-catch. By-catch is dumped back into the water, dead or dying. Crew members have described by-catch as being as high as 15 to 1. That is, if the net brings up 100 pounds of legal-size shrimp there will be 1,500 pounds of fish or other marine life that is brought to the vessels’ deck and thereafter dumped back into the water, dead or dying. The Chief Scientist of the National Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) concluded “trawling is like bulldozing a forest to catch songbirds.” Scientists have compared trawling to “clear cutting forests,” which alludes to the fact that trawling destroys everything and leaves nothing. Dr. Gary Neffe of the University of Florida has claimed that trawling “is one of the most damaging kinds of habitat destruction on earth”. Repeated trawling has been compared to plowing a field. Trawling has helped deplete Belize’s fisheries to where it has destroyed the livelihood of many Belizean fishermen. The trawlers have pulled their nets through areas that constitute the nursery grounds for juvenile fish. They have thereby destroyed millions of young fish before they became large enough to reproduce (spawn). Trawling has been outlawed in many nations. Others nations have restricted trawling to waters with a depth in excess of 60 meters. Under such rules, Belize’s trawling would be outlawed as shallow water trawling. The history of trawlers in Belize is one of intrigue, selfishness, greed and questionable excess of political power and influence. Are such problems to continue? The present Minister of Fisheries has been in office since the last national election and nothing has been done to correct the devastating problem that plagues Belize’s environment and fisheries. The trawlers originally came from Honduras. After they destroyed the fisheries in Honduras, the trawlers moved to Nicaraguan waters. When the Sandanistas took over power, they were intelligent enough to ban trawling and force the trawlers out of Nicaraguan waters.Belize was foolish enough to let the trawlers be brought in, to damage Belize’s environment and destroy much of Belize’s fisheries. Will those the voters have entrusted with the country’s welfare prevent further destruction by trawlers? Or is it going to be politics as usual and to hell with the environment and the interest of the people? If the Minister of Fisheries doesn’t take immediate action to cause trawlers and trawling to be banned, he should immediately give his reasoning to the voters, explaining why. Kenneth Gale Amandala
THOUGHT
OF THE DAY
All
of the animals except man know
that the principal business of life is to enjoy it
-Samuel Butler
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© SAN PEDRO DAILY, PO Box 45, San Pedro Town, Belize. Inquiries to editor@sanpedrodaily.com |
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