The mainstream media did a disservice to the Belizean public when they allowed the substance of Friday’s, November 12, House meeting to be hijacked by PUP’s attempts to introduce petty politics into the House. Though it was entertaining to see their attempts backfire in a hail of lashing, it is unfortunate that if one did not listen to the event live they will have no knowledge of the extremely important bills introduced in the House that day.
There were five bills read for the first time at Friday’s sitting: the Income and Business Tax (Amendment) (No.2) Bill, the Finance and Audit (Reform) (Amendment) Bill, Blair Athol Power Project Bill, Evidence (Amendment) Bill and the Married Persons (Protection) (Amendment) Bill. The most significant of these are the Income and Business Tax bill and the Finance and Audit Reform bill.
At the presentation of the budget on Monday, March 15, Prime Minister Barrow introduced legislation that changed the earnings threshold on income from $19,600 to $24,000. Therefore individuals making $2,000 or less per month would not have to pay income tax. The purpose of that bill was to ensure that individuals making $500 or less per week would not have to pay income tax. Therefore, the wording was changed and the threshold was set at $26,000. In keeping his word that “We might look at increasing the threshold once again in the near future” the Prime Minister amended the legislation covering income tax and increased the threshold to $29,000. This act provides immediate relief to hard working Belizeans.
The Finance and Audit Reform Bill is a continuation of the Prime Minister’s reform agenda. One may recall that on Friday, August 6, Prime Minister Dean Barrow introduced what Belizeans and regional leaders have dubbed the most meaningful political reform bill in Belize since Independence, the Recall of Elected Representatives Bill, 2010. Well, the bill on finance and audit reform may be even more consequential. According to the papers of the meeting, the bill is to enhance transparency in the tendering process for the Government’s procurement and sale contracts; to enlarge the regulation-making power of the Minister in interest of expediency; to restore Financial Orders and Stores Orders to their original status of subsidiary legislation and to provide for relating matters. This bill demands transparency and accountability at all levels of government.
All tendering processes must now be transparent at every stage. This bill allows individuals and businesses presenting tenders to be aware of the selection process. They will know what the tenders are and why a particular tender was selected. Thus ensuring that there will be no back door deals as was the case in the previous administration. In a time of regional integration and globalization, having such legislation is extremely important. Tenders are submitted from all over the world for projects and services in Belize. The recent tendering for the construction of the Kendal Bridge is a prime example of how tendering business should be done and is being done by this government.
The other bills introduced in the House on Friday were the Blair Athol Power Project Bill, Evidence (Amendment) Bill and the Married Persons (Protection) (Amendment) Bill. The Blair Athol Bill is just a formality for a previous company changing its name and it is to facilitate the effective implementation of the Blair Athol Power Project. The Evidence (Amendment) Bill aims to remove discrimination between a marriage and common law union in the instances of compellability as witnesses in criminal proceedings. The Married Persons (protection) (Amendment) Bill removes the ceiling placed on the amount that a magistrate may award as maintenance for a child. Therefore, rich “sperm donors” may feel it where it hurts most, their pockets.
