Cabinet Brief 27th October 2022

The Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Hon. John Brice�o, met in regular session on 25th October 2022.

- Cabinet gave its approval for an amendment to Statutory Instrument No.110, titled Telecommunications (Licensing Classification, Authorisation and Fee Structure Amendment Regulations 2021, to amend regulations to clarify the various classifications of licenses, services to be provided under various licenses and their applicable fees and to clarify the services which can be provided under a class license. These amendments would bring about much-needed clarity to the regulations, improve the administration by the Public Service Commission of license holders and update the fees payable under the regulations to be in line with current industry costs.

- Cabinet approved a proposal by the Ministry of the Public Service, Constitutional and Political Reform and Religious Affairs to modernize the recruitment and promotion system and to revamp and modernize the Human Resource Management systems. The objective is to create a more professional, responsive and effective Belize Public Service.

- Cabinet approved the entry by Belize, by way of Senate ratification of the 2012 Cape Town Agreement, to enhance safety standards and requirements for Belize registered high seas fishing vessels as well as strengthen efforts to combat illegal, unreported and underregulated fishing activities. Cabinet also gave its approval for Belize to accede to the Convention on the Conservation and Management of High Seas Fishery Resources in the South Pacific Ocean to enable Belize to participate as a voting member and influence the allocation of fishing quotas in the South Pacific Ocean to Belize.

- Finally, Cabinet welcomed a visit from the students of Belize High School who won the gold medal in the FIRST Global Challenge, which featured high school students from 180 nations competing to build and program a robot. During the visit, the students demonstrated to Cabinet how they constructed and programmed their robot to compete at the event. For their efforts, the students were presented with letters of commendation by Hon. Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education, Culture, Science and Technology. Additionally, Prime Minister Hon. John Brice�o presented a citation to the students and the school in recognition of their excellent performance at the competition.