Cabinet moves against tinted windshields

While the big news out of Cabinet this week was the cancellation of two lopsided oil contracts, that body did manage to make some other significant decisions. According to a press release, a ten percent increase in the minimum pension for retired public officers has been approved. Cabinet has also been advised that the Social Security Board has agreed to raise the non-contributory pension for women over sixty-five from seventy-five to one hundred dollars per month and the Board is also considering extending that benefit to men over sixty-seven. The changes will take effect on December first.

In another move to ease voters’ financial burdens, Cabinet was informed that details have been worked out with the D.F.C. to reduce low income housing payments by a hundred dollars per month for borrowers who are current with their loans. A similar arrangement is being sought with the Social Security Board housing portfolio.

A couple of less conventional decisions were also taken in Cabinet, including the opening of the Corozal Free Zone to Belizean shoppers on November seventeenth and December fifteenth. To our knowledge it is the first time this has ever been done and while it will no doubt prove popular with the public and free zone merchants, it pretty much defeats the purpose of the free zone … which is to attract foreign currency and investment. Eager shoppers should note that according to the release duty will be payable on all goods purchased. And finally, after years of complaints by law enforcement authorities, Cabinet has authorized a statutory instrument to ban the heavy tinting of vehicle windows. The new law will prohibit tinting “that is likely to impede sight, from outside the vehicle, of a person or thing inside the vehicle.” It also allows for the impounding by police of the offending cars and trucks. It is not clear whether the new law will be used simply to target the rides of suspected criminals or will be applied impartially to include ministerial S.U.V.’s.