More money for student loans

Belizean students got a break from government today. Cabinet agreed to increase the amount of money allotted for scholarships to 2 million dollars a year. More than half of the money will be used for students attending tertiary level institutions in Belize. In addition, government will absorb the interest on student loans while the students are studying. The loans and interest will be repaid by the students once their studies are completed. Cabinet will also table a bill at the next House meeting to allow skilled workers from CARICOM countries to settle and work in Belize. This initiative falls under a CARICOM Heads of Government agreement to help facilitate a regional single market and economy. The Corozal Free Zone Amendment Bill will be presented at this Friday’s House meeting. It will provide for a 2 percent charge on all goods exported outside the national customs territory. The bill will also seek to repeal unrestricted foreign currency sales and transfers, remove the extension of a tax holiday for the free zone businesses over the next ten years and provide for audits of the C.F.Z.M.A. The Ministry of Sugar Industries has gotten the approval for a one-year moratorium on the sale of land around the Libertad Sugar Factory to cane farmers and the auctioning of rolling stock and supplementary equipment by the D.F.C. The Santa Cruz Lodge will be leased for an employment generating project.