Bank seeks CCJ intervention in constitutional fight

The Belize government has confirmed that British Caribbean Bank Limited has filed an application before the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) seeking an injunction to stop it from passing the Belize Constitution 9th Amendment Bill into law.

In a statement, the Dean Barrow administration said that the Ashcroft Alliance's British Caribbean Bank Limited motion against the attorney general and the Minister of Public Utilities is also seeking a declaration that the re-acquisition of the telecommunications company, Telemedia, by the government is void.

It wants the CCJ to order a return of Telemedia to the Ashcroft Alliance.

"In government's view, this latest move is proof positive that the Ashcroft Alliance will stop at nothing to frustrate the democratic determination of the National Assembly that the government and people of Belize should own the utilities in this country," the government said in a statement.

It said the The Ashcroft action also "reinforces the absolute need for the 9th Constitution Amendment Bill, which would enshrine Belizean public ownership of the utilities and put that ownership beyond dispute and beyond Ashcroft's legal reach.

"The misguided people that have been arguing against the Bill have played right into Ashcroft's hands. Without the Bill, as the current CCJ application shows, there will be no end to the Ashcroft campaign.

"So, government repeats its position that the 9th Constitutional Amendment Bill must become law in order to completely protect the people's right to the utilities. And the justification for clarifying that the amendment must therefore be unchallengeable, is now self-evident."

The Barrow administration said that it was calling on all "patriotic Belizeans, in the face of this new development, to stand firm and support the 9th Constitution Amendment Bill", reminding citizens that the first public consultation on the bill will take place next Wednesday.

Over the weekend, Prime Minister Barrow wrote citizens outlining his government's decision to amend the constitution that opposition groups say could be the beginning of a dictatorship in Belize.

Opposition groups content that the amendment, which they describe as "by far the most radical and far-reaching", meant that any future change to the Belize Constitution will no longer be open to review or challenges in the court.

Former prime minister Said Musa said that passage of the amendment would pave the way for a centralised and dictatorial state.

"That, to me, is a frightening situation that has developed in our country," he told News 5 television.

The Belize Bar Association has also commented negatively on the amendment.

The Belize Chamber of Commerce has also issued a statement, urging the government to withdraw the proposed ninth amendment to the Constitution.

"The potential for abuse is real. We risk losing the basic rights and freedoms we as Belizeans consider the very essence of our democracy. We would be placing ultimate control of our democracy in the hands of our elected representatives, without any check on their powers."

The private sector group said that while it recognises the right of the government to nationalise property, it believes that aggrieved persons should have access the court to challenge that acquisition.

- CMC