Janelle Chanona is the Next N.G.O. Senator

Janelle Chanona

Oceana Vice President Janelle Chanona will succeed parliamentarian Osmany Salas in the upper house as the next N.G.O. Senator. That change will come into effect as early as the next sitting of the house. Senator Salas tendered his resignation recently, prompting the N.G.O. community to seek a replacement.  When the call was made for interested candidates to come forward, the former journalist turned environmentalist submitted her name, along with Dr. Sharmaine Saunders. A subsequent vote saw Chanona emerging victorious. This afternoon, Chanona spoke with the media and shared with us what the new position means to her in the context of advocating on behalf of the N.G.O. community.

Janelle Chanona, Senator Designate

“Ever since Senator Salas gave his notice of resignation, the NGO community has been thinking and working towards identifying a replacement.  The nomination process concluded late last week and I was nominated by the Belize Audubon Society, the National Garifuna Council and the Belize Tourism Industry Association and I accepted those nominations late last week and, after the long holiday, reached out to the members to talk about where I’d like to see the BNN move forward and that’s been an exciting process in and of itself.  I think it shows the staunch commitment of the NGO community to conduct its role in governance and democracy.  Overall, there were lots of voting and polling before today to identify who the organizations would support and then today was the ultimate polling and you had the result earlier.  Again, I think it’s just the NGO community showing its commitment to strengthening governance and playing its role after so many have struggled and advocated for the thirteenth senator that we are honoring that with the commitment to making sure that the NGOs voice is amplified in the senate.”