Switching gears now, today the Ministries of E-Governance and Public Service today teamed up with UNDP to launch the Digital Transformation In Belize Course. If you're wondering how this affects you, it's because this is the first step to digitalising some of the government offices in the country. So if you're tired of traveling and waiting in lines for a birth certificate or passport, this course seeks to modernise these procedures.
But first, the public servants must undergo a course tailored especially for them. Today we heard from the director from the E-Governance and Digitalisation unit as well as the CEO in the ministry and the Minister of the Public Service.
There will also be a survey done on random citizens to get their opinions on the customer service at certain government offices that are participating in the course.
CEO On Who Should Pay For Cost of Power Fluctuations
And we also asked the CEO about the situation concerning the cost of electricity in Belize. As you've heard before, both PUC and BEL agree that the cost of power has gone up. But while BEL says that additional cost of power should be set off using the running regulatory balance - which would mean the consumers would owe BEL - PUC says that rate of return for BEL's owners should be reduced from 10% to 8%, meaning that they would absorb the cost.
Here's what CEO Urbina had to say:
The Future for The Port
And the CEO - whose ministry is also responsible for ports in the country - also responded to the question of whether they would accept a request from the Port of Belize Limited for a deal similar to the stevedores.
CEO Urbina explained that he believes, instead, that the government needs to come up with a strategy that would lead to the port's expansion - thus growing Belize's economy.
Destiny Found, But It's Complex
Last week, we told you about 17-year-old Destiny Burke Elliott a girl who fled from the Domestic Violence Unit office after a disagreement about her placement.
Back then it was Destiny's mom who brought us the news of her disappearance. She sat in our front room and gave an interview asking that the public help in locating her daughter.
But this morning we got an alternate narrative about the timeline of events that led Destiny to leave home. Up next you'll hear from her sister and perhaps most recent legal guardian, who told us that Destiny was only trying to escape an abusive home.
Amber Grenardo says that Destiny has been participating in online schooling since the transition.
