Photo: BNTU members attending PCC forum

by Kristen Ku

COROZAL, Tues. Aug. 29, 2023

Last Friday, the People’s Constitution Commission (PCC) held a Constitution Education Forum at the Corozal Community College Auditorium that was attended by over 1,700 teachers from the Orange Walk and Corozal districts.

The primary purpose of the event, which was planned and executed in collaboration with the Belize National Teachers Union (BNTU) and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Technology (MoECST), was to encourage discussions about the Belize Constitution and thus strengthen constitutional awareness within the teaching community. Notably, it was the largest of such gatherings organized by the PCC so far.

The forum included a series of speakers who took the stage to make presentations on various facets of the Constitution. Prominent among them was Mr. Edd P. Usher, who delved into the subjects of fundamental rights and the preamble of the Belize Constitution. Additionally, Mr. Cesar Ross discussed the concepts of good governance, the Constitution’s accountability, and the recent UNCAC implementation.

There was also an engaging Q&A session, during which attendees were able to seek clarity on various topics, as well as a Citizen’s Survey.

Anthony Chanona, chairman of the PCC, shed light on the essence of the Citizen’s Survey. He remarked, “What’s coming out of these sessions, and all the sessions we’ve had so far, we’re driving in what we call a Citizen Survey. This allows us to poll 1,700 in a room. A lot of it is awareness, to try to build up the importance of what the Constitution is before we start our consultations.”

Echoing Chanona’s sentiments, Darrell Bradley, one of the presenters, stated, “I think the PCC is doing a tremendous job, and I think that it’s a bold process to go throughout the country and to really engage with people in this first phase on a conversation about what the Constitution is and what the Constitution does. So that’s kind of a fundamental thing.”