Senate approves three legislation linked to Belize’s MCC Compact

After almost five hours of debate, the Senate approved three pieces of legislation connected to the implementation of Belize’s one-hundred-and-twenty-five-million-US-dollar Millennium Challenge Corporation Compact. The bills were passed following a division requested by Senator Glenfield Dennison. Ten senators voted in favour, while three abstained.  The measures are the Education Bill, the Technical and Vocational Education and Training Bill, and the Millennium Challenge Account-Belize Authority Amendment Bill. Together, they establish the legal and institutional framework needed to implement major education and workforce-development reforms under the Compact.  Earlier in the sitting, Lead Government Senator Eamon Courtenay, speaking on behalf of Education Minister Francis Fonseca, requested special consideration for the bills because of the timeframe attached to the Compact. Courtenay acknowledged that the proposed reforms deserved more extensive examination and committed the Government to facilitating further discussions.

Eamon Courtenay, Leader of Government Business: “And the request made by the government is unusual and extraordinary. And to those senators who are prepared to proceed to amend the bill without an amendment I am personally thanking you for that indulgence. Difficult though It will be an unsatisfactory though it is. We find ourselves in a situation, Madam President, where the United States and Belize have agreed to the compact which is a grant of $125 million to dramatically reform the education and energy sectors of Belize. The bills before us today, the first bill is to domesticate the agreement between our two governments, then secondly to provide the legislative framework for the reform of the education sector. Madam President, the Honorable Minister of Education Hon. Francis Fonsseca has written a letter to the Senate dated the 4th day of September 2026 addressed to yourself and which has been shared with all senators. The purpose of this letter is to give his written undertaking that there are 21 amendments that will be moved at the next sitting of the House of Representatives. Those amendments will be debated by the House of Representatives and then that bill will be sent to the Senate for debate. I have assured senators that when that bill arrives at the Senate, the entire architecture, all three bills will be open for any further debate by colleagues and we will not be restricted only to the amendments that are sent to us by the lower House. Finally, Madam President, at the request of colleagues, the Minister of Education has further given his undertaking that we will complete the process of further amending the education and TVET bills within three months, that is, before the end of December. Madam President, I ask colleagues to consider the wider public interest of having us domesticate and agree, sign the compact so that the process can start on the firm undertaking that the unsatisfactory parts of the education and TVET bills will be open for full debate, further amendment in the Senate within the next three months, indeed much earlier than that.”

The request was met with resistance from Lead Opposition Senator Patrick Faber. The former Education Minister objected to limiting debate on legislation proposing significant changes to Belize’s education and technical-training systems. While Faber agreed that additional consultations could take place later, he refused to restrict his contribution during the sitting and outlined the Opposition’s concerns.

Patrick Faber, Lead Opposition Senator: “The truth of the matter is that we have an obligation, Madam President, in this upper house, like the lower house, to ventilate matters and what I see it as is not a chance to come back later. It’s a chance to get our points out now and still come back later. Nothing prohibits us from putting into proper perspective today the pieces of legislation that are before us that the government is asking to pass , asking us to pass as is in an effort to try to ensure madam president that we get it right even if we have to come back later to make the changes. What we saw and what we witnessed again just a minute ago was Senator Courtenay seeking the permission of the House to push through the bill in today’s sitting, right away, right through. That is not the process of the lower house of course except if there is some kind of emergency situation that requires that. But I want to urge, Madam President, and I know the members in this chamber have the right to make an objection but I think that that would serve us well to be able to have the bills introduced, to have us look at them as a matter of the process of this house.”

Church Senator Louis Wade Junior eventually agreed to accommodate the Government’s request. However, he warned that senators should not again be asked to reduce their scrutiny of major legislation because of deadlines or time constraints.

Rev’d Louis Wade, Churches Senator: “So this is a big ask. It is a very big ask. Coming with the energy, the experience, the education, having spent, as I said, about 75 active hours to get a request that says “pass it with the amendments of the lower house but hold your amendments until after September the 18th” I am saying that because I hope this is the first and last time that such an ask be made. The ask is granted. The ask will be granted but I think it needs to be clear that it is a very, very difficult ask.”

At the conclusion of the five-hour debate, Senator Dennison called for a division, requiring each senator’s vote to be formally recorded. The three bills were approved with ten senators voting yes and three abstaining.  The MCC Compact is a five-year grant agreement signed by Belize and the United States Government in September 2024. The one-hundred-and-twenty-five-million-US-dollar grant is not a loan and is being supplemented by almost fifty-five million US dollars from the Government of Belize.  The Education Project seeks to strengthen secondary education and technical and vocational training, improve teacher preparation and student assessment, expand access to education, and establish a National Training Authority that responds to the needs of the labour market.  The Compact also includes an Energy Project intended to reduce the wholesale cost of electricity through improvements to the national grid, a new submarine cable connecting the mainland to Ambergris Caye, and reforms to electricity regulation and procurement.