Cabinet moves on village councils, other issues

At yesterday’s weekly Cabinet meeting the issue of village governance was examined through a review of the draft of the Village Council Bill. This will be tabled at the next House of Representatives meeting. According to a release from the Prime Minister’s office the bill will enable rural communities to effectively govern themselves while pursuing sustainable development. The Prime Minister’s office says the draft is essentially the same as the one developed by the Village Council Reform Committee and that the bill will ensure that village councils work with the alcalde system. Further consultations will be held prior to the bill’s final passage in the House. To help its proposed housing project along, the Ministry of Natural Resources will help locate a suitable area between Burrell Boom and Hattieville which can then be properly planned with streets, electricity, water and telephone services.

To make the registration of births easier, the Attorney General’s Ministry will establish a computerized birth registry branch in every district so that people will no longer have to travel to Belize City to obtain an official birth certificate or to record a birth.

A referendum bill will be tabled at the next House meeting which will allow issues of national importance to be put to a referendum. The requirements for voting and the referendum procedure will be based on the election procedure set out in the Representation of the People’s Act.

Other decisions taken by Cabinet include relocating the Family Court, Family Services Department and the Municipal Court to the upper level of the Belize City Commercial Center. The waiting time for patients requiring elective surgery will be reduced at the Belmopan Hospital since Cabinet has approved an increase in staff at the facility.