Businessman takes G.O.B. to court on constitutional amendments

Public consultations on the proposed amendments to the Belize Constitution are taking place as required, but there are already signs that Government is facing a tough time in gaining public approval to the proposed amendments. Late yesterday in the Supreme Court, former senator and businessman Barry Bowen, presented a claim against the Government in respect of the proposed amendment to Section seventeen of the Belize Constitution. As it currently stands, section seventeen guarantees protection from deprivation of property, a right to compensation, and a right to access the courts. The proposed amendment, if passed, would in effect take away from private landowners these guarantees in respect of petroleum, minerals, and accompanying substances. According to Bowen, such an amendment would contravene his constitutional rights by denying him access to the courts which would no longer have jurisdiction to hear any applications relating to this issue and further remove the judiciary, the jurisdiction to assess compensation where property is acquired by the government. But how does the proposed amendment impact Bowen? In an affidavit, Bowen makes reference to a parcel of land in the Stann Creek District, which according to the businessman could be taken away by the government, depriving him of recourse to the Courts. The land in reference, according to Bowen, has soils and values that could be developed in the future for commercial gains. Bowen was unavailable today for comment but we’ll have details of this breaking story tomorrow.