Cabinet moves on Toledo logging, other issues

In other government news the press briefing issued following yesterday’s Cabinet meeting reveals a number of proposals for future action. Chief among them was the formation of a committee to review the logging licenses granted to Malaysian companies in the Toledo District. The body will be comprised of one representative each from the Ministry of Natural Resources, the timber industry and the environmental N.G.O.s, along with two representatives from the district’s Mayan communities. The issue of logging by the Malaysians has been the subject of both local and international controversy since the licenses were first granted in the early days of the previous government. Other decisions by Cabinet include plans to establish a system of bail bonds where the courts of Belize would accept the posting of bail by licensed bail bond companies. This means that by paying about ten percent of the court ordered bail fee, an accused criminal could go free pending trial. The bonding company would then assume the financial risk if the accused skips town. Cabinet also approved recommendations to consider the privatization of garbage collection nationwide, the increased regulation of commercial signs on public land, improvements in collection and rationalization of property tax, more autonomy for the Belize City Council and town boards, as well as the suspension of loan repayments by the town boards until April, 1999.