And in other news, today, we got an update from the Ministry of Public Service about the Constitution Reform Committee. He explained that there is broad representation on this committee and that he and the prime minister have just gone over and are satisfied with the names.
He also told us about the mechanisms they will be using to ensure greater public participation, which basically boils down to educating the public about the process.
Hon. Henry Charles Usher, Minister of the Public Service, Constitutional and Political Reform
"We wanted to make sure that we have our good governance unit in place before we actually launched the commission. The good governance unit will be the secretariat for the commission. That unit is in place now, there is a director of that unit and we are getting the staff of that unit. They will be responsible for a number of things including the educational campaign. I believe that for any reform to go through we have to build that momentum towards reform. We have to educate the population; we have to make sure that Belizeans are aware of what we're doing. You've asked about how we are going to do that: there are a number of ways. We are actually going to have in-person consultations, in-person meetings in the different districts, different towns. We are also going to have an online platform for persons to participate in this process and as soon as the commission is established, which I hope will be done very soon, we can make sure that the education campaign, the research and the different secretarial work will be done by that unit."
"We are having a broad participation on the commission itself. I just met with the prime minister today to go over the members of this commission and I am satisfied along with him that the members will be able to represent the various sectors of the Belizean population, but certainly we want to make sure that whatever voice is out there, whoever wants to be a part of this process, they have an opportunity either in person or online or digitally to make sure that they give their views on this matter."
