P.C.C Meets Stumbling Block From the Public
Cesar Ross
Since the People’s Constitution Commission hosted its inaugural meeting a year ago, it has been holding consultations in various areas around the country. It has also made several unsuccessful attempts in others. But that effort has been easier said than done because, as head of the P.C.C., Cesar Ross indicated to the media on Wednesday that the public has not been turning out in some areas to give their views and recommendations to the commission.
Cesar Ross, Director, Good Governance Unit, Ministry of Public Service
“The P.C.C zoned the country into four different zones and created teams – commissioner teams and the technical secretariat support teams as such, and what has happened is that in some areas, the type of media we use to reach out is not as effective, right? I remember two weeks ago, I went to Patchakan to do a delivery right there and there was a good turnout. But what we find out in some areas is how you approach asking the people to come out as such, and the village crier of the past where you go about with a vehicle and a speaker inviting people to come out and talking to them sometimes works when social media doesn’t work as such, you know. So what we’ve been doing is reaching out and planning. Also, I will be honest and tell you that we have found certain areas that we had one – I think about a month ago where we expected it a hundred people and we had, you know, about 12, 13 persons show up for the presentations, and that has happened to us both in Belize City and in Orange, as such. And then we go to villages where we wonder, we worry about attendance, and then we have 40, 50, 60 people turn out. And what we find is that these people are really generating concerns. They’re really generating their peeves, their problems with the governance system at all levels, et cetera.”
Marion Ali
“What are some of the major concerns that people are bringing to you?”
Cesar Ross
“There’s a number of concerns as such. One, the Senate has always been a discussion: what is the purpose of the Senate, and would there be a much more effective Senate if it’s an elected Senate, or if a more empowered Senate as such. Also, they have been highlighting that somehow or the other, we have to do some type of consumer service training for public offices as such, because they don’t feel that they’re well served when they go to these public offices. So that’s an area that’s a challenge, and that’s one that the minister has created a department – has empowered a department within the Ministry of Public Service, where they’re saying you have to do something about that and find a way to train them and not only hear complaints, but what do we do with those complaints? What do we do with public offices that that are constantly complained about? We have to do something. We can’t just every year reward good public offices. We have to find a way to penalize those that are creating the problems in the system.”
The P.C.C will hold a forum on Friday at the Belize City Centre for high school students to speak on the topic.
