Cabinet: Chalillo Act will be repealed

It was described on our newscast of June thirteenth as “the worst piece of legislation ever passed by the House of Representatives”, and nothing done since then has caused the news editor to alter his opinion of the Macal River Hydroelectric Bill. With that in mind, we should be gleeful then that today Cabinet announced government’s intention to repeal the act, which sought to place the Chalillo dam project beyond the review of any court, let alone any meddling environmentalists. While it is certain that no one who believes in the rule of constitutional law will miss the misguided legislation, unfortunately, government’s reasoning for its repeal is no less fatuous than that behind its passage. According to the release, “Cabinet is satisfied that the act has served its purpose and that the project is being implemented as planned; therefore, the act may now be repealed.” The fact is that the sole reason the act is being repealed is that the final appeal by BACONGO to stop the project will be heard early next month by the Privy Council in London and government is afraid that the learned law lords will not only declared the law unconstitutional, but give Belmopan a sharp tongue lashing to boot. By repealing the law prior to that hearing G.O.B. hopes to render the point moot; that’s why you can be sure that the repeal will go through three readings in one day at the next sitting of the House. In the end, however, while the Privy Council will likely rule in favour of Chalillo, they may yet have their say about how the whole affair was handled.