Well, representatives of the NGO community met again yesterday at the George Price Center in Belmopan, quote, "to define the process to…elect Belize's 13th Senator." They confirm via press release that of the 143 registered NGO's, only twenty-two are in what is called "good standing under the law."

So, those 22 have elected a Steering Committee to facilitate the process for the 13th Senator. That committee is chaired by Janelle Chanona from Oceana Belize, Vice-Chair Osmany Salas from the BTIA, Secretary Amanda Acosta from the Belize Audubon Society, Treasurer Armando Aban from The Scout Association of Belize), and Media Relation Officer, Froyla Tzalam from SATIIM.

And their first order of business is to get other NGO's in good standing under the law so that the process is more inclusive. So they have set December 16 as the deadline for registered NGOs to comply with the requirements of the NGO Act, so that they too can be deemed in good standing under the requirements to participate in the selection of the 13th Senator. Non compliant NGO's are urged to contact the Attorney General's Ministry or members of the steering committee to find out why their organization is not listed as being in good standing.

The steering committee has also set out the criteria for their Senator, and that person, quote, "must be a Belizean; Must have three plus years working with an NGO(s) in Belize;

Must possess excellent written and oral communication skills; must be non-partisan: must not have been a candidate for a political party; nor have an executive post within any political party; nor be a partisan political activist overtly involved in getting a party/candidate elected."

The final revised list of NGO's in good standing will be handed over from the Attorney General on December 19th., and the deadline to present nominations is January 3rd .