Heritage Preservation Legislation Bill to go to House on Friday

Patrick Faber

There will be a Special Sitting of the House of Representatives on Friday. It is the first meeting of the lower chamber since the budget debate in March. In many quarters, the guessing game is that Prime Minister Dean Barrow may be making an announcement following his comments at the Chamber of Commerce annual general meeting where he announced that it would be his last address to the private sector partners. But Deputy Prime Minister Patrick Faber told News Five on Wednesday that it is much to do about nothing and that the agenda will see him tabling a Bill for the perseveration of historic buildings in Belize City. According to sources, the government is rushing the Heritage Preservation Legislation Bill through the House to be able to access funding from Taiwan. Here’s what the DPM said.

Patrick Faber, Deputy Prime Minister

“I don’t know why it is deemed a special sitting; it is a sitting of the House and regular business as far as I am concerned. I can’t remember right off the bat. I know that I will be presenting a Bill that will see historic buildings in Belize City preserved. There will be the establishment of a fund and a council to govern the preservation of historic buildings like Saint John’s Cathedral, the Supreme Court; and this is in keeping to an agreement that we made, we signed, with Taiwan and the ICDF to do a development project downtown Belize City at the House of Culture and to designation a portion of downtown Belize City, a historic area of our country. That I know will be presented, but there are other Bills.  But there is nothing to be frightened about, nothing out of the way. I’ve heard some people hinting that the Prime Minister will be stepping down, but to my knowledge that is not the case. So nothing out of the ordinary I can assure you.”