Is P.U.P. appointee resigning from Senate?
Today’s Senate meeting in Belmopan was supposed to be routine but from early on, it was clear all was not well in the Members’ Room. The sitting started forty-five minutes late and tonight we understand the delay was caused by concerns raised by government senator, Anthony Chanona. According to our sources, Chanona’s dilemma regarded the changes to the Public Utilities Act which was on the table to be passed in one sitting. The Senator wanted to bill to go to committee for debate but soon learnt that procedurally, votes for or against the bill must be cast on the second reading before it can go to committee. Apparently Chanona is not totally convinced that there is a compelling reason to change the law…but if such a reason does exist, it should be ventilated before approval. When it became clear that he was the only dissenting voice on his side of the National Assembly, Chanona opted to miss the sitting. It was a dramatic decision and tonight we understand that the former Mayor is now considering resigning from his appointed post because of moral conflicts over how bills are passed. The Senator was unavailable for comment today but following today’s meeting, we asked his colleagues how they felt about the system currently in place.
Godwin Hulse, Business Sector Senator
“Government has the numbers and what government wants government gets. That is a fundamental principle of the way we are governed. What Government wants, Government gets. And Government, once it puts a Bill, has no intention to yield. I mean, I have seen that many many times and I’ve seen that with both governments. Yes sometimes it is frustrating cause you say ‘well here are things that we could change to make better legislation’ but this is what government has drafted and this is what government wants, and Government has the numbers to get it through. For example today they were five – five but the president has a casting vote so whatever is to be passed will be passed and in the absence of Senator Chanona they would have plugged the hole.”
“Generally one would expect that there’s a more dynamic action and you get the adjustments and such that you require. But what it serves to do, it serves to enlighten the Belizean people, particularly when medias like yourselves carry it. Belizean people are better informed and one has to realize that the process of legislation that is the written form, is sometimes complex, but the implementation basically is all of our responsibility. The Petroleum Fund Bill for example is a step up to my mind where it really has some serious layers of security. It is for us now to be vigilant to ensure that those are in fact effective. To my mind, I think you noted I cited where I see some serious loopholes that need to be covered. It’s not dead, those are things we continue to push.”
Deborah Mencias McMillan, U.D.P. Senator
“It can be frustrating. I will agree with you, but I must say that I cherish the opportunity to educate the Belizean public because the debates in the Senate I have found are very enriching. So though we may want to be frustrated by numbers, I still feel that there is a greater benefit by people hearing both sides. So at the end, the people still win.”
Marion Ali
“So even if you don’t get a successful vote against as such at the end of the day you would have opened the minds of many Belizeans.”
Deborah Mencias McMillan
“Well that’s what I mean, especially speaking as an opposition Senator. We will never be able to do that, unless you rally the troops of the independent senator, but when you have one of the independents being absent— so it’s futile so I try not to dwell on that.”
During today’s Senate Sitting the Petroleum Revenue Management Fund Bill and the Public Utilities Electricity Amendment Bill were passed. In presenting the bill to the House of Representatives last Friday, Minister of Utilities Ralph Fonseca maintained that the changes to the law are “designed to better protect the consumers by enabling the Minister to set general policy and standards, with respect to the supply of electricity by utility service providers; with particular reference to the methodology and process for the determination of tariffs, charges and fees, to be charged for the provisions of electrical services”.
