Union Senator Reminds Government About F.A.R.A.

And that’s where the debate got somewhat intense. Lead government senator Eamon Courtenay rose on a point of order during which he referred to a section of the standing orders pertinent to what was being argued. What’s interesting is that the Belize National Teachers Union has been a supporter of the C.W.U. where the monies in question are concerned and has pulled its accounts from the Belize Bank Limited. This morning in the upper house, Senator Elena Smith, who represents the trade unions in parliament, reminded government of the importance of the Finance and Audit Reform Act.

Eamon Courtenay

Eamon Courtenay, Lead of Government Business

“The one thing Senator Peyrefitte will learn is that try as much as he will, he will never ever be able to tell me what to do or when to do it. Madam President, I rise to bring to the attention of the Senate, Standing Order Eighty-four. Standing Order Eighty-four says the general authority of the president; the president shall have power to regulate the conduct of business in all matters not provided for in these standing orders.”

Elena Smith

“We believe that the stevedores are deserving and so we have no issue in terms of this matter being addressed. I believe we, maybe when there was the thought of privatization of the port, they probably weren’t thinking this far and we weren’t expecting some of..”

Elena Smith

Senate President

“Again senator, bring it to the bill and the content of the bill.”

Elena Smith

“I will do that, Madam President, but I am just trying to point out that we did not look that far down the road and we are here now having to approve one point five million.  And while some may say that that’s a lot, it’s a huge amount, it may not be deserving, we believe that it is more than deserving because it will not cover what these stevedores will have to endure going forward. And so I listened, Madam President, to just a bit of what was said in the house and I know that there were some concerns when the matter was raised of the government abiding by the Finance and Audit Reform Act. As unions who have always worked to ensure that government is accountable and government does what is right, despite the fact that we support, we have to remind government that it ought to ensure that it abides by these acts and do things when they are supposed to be done and not have to come after the fact.”