San Pedro Daily
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Ambergris Caye, Belize Thursday August 9, 2007 Belize's only Daily- Seven Days a Week |
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Prison reform focuses on skills training
 On
Tuesday,
inmates of the Hattieville Correctional Facility put their
talent on display. The outdoor exhibition is part of a week of official
activities to commemorate the five year anniversary of the Kolbe
Foundation’s management of the prison. John Woods, Chair, Kolbe Foundation “We not only have the potential in here for art, we have the potential in here for just phenomenal human beings coming out of here that can do so much good with their lives because they have been through so much.” Under the system of private management, inmates have been able to access literacy programmes as well as learn skills like welding, construction, woodwork, jewellery, and art. John Woods “I guess the biggest thing in the five years is tremendous amount of hope now. People can see a different picture, they can see a different outlook, they can see a different outcome, they can see having a normal life with a family, a wife, and children that love them and that they can provide for. I think that’s the biggest thing, I think they were trapped in a rut before and now their eyes have been opened.” The Kolbe Foundation has taken its share of hits over the last five years and several of the prison programmes have been received with scepticism. But Woods and his team remain firm believers in rehabilitation and reform. John Woods “Prison is not the problem you know. Prison is the result of the problem and we have a lot of problems out there in the community and if we can get these guys that have lived through that and overcome it and get them trained to work in the community, I think we can do a number on the problems that are out there that keep people from ever coming to prison.” “We don’t want people in prison; our Kolbe’s goal is to have an empty prison. We want a better society to live in and to have people locked up and treated like animals, which is basically the way we found this place five years ago, I don’t think is the answer to anything.” Read More Social Security
Board's New Approach
to Managing Your Money Is your Social Security
money
being well managed and in the public interest? After the succession of
investment scandals that forced a Senate probe into Social Security,
public confidence in the institution was shaken. But a new board with a
new Chairman and eventually a new CEO hope to change the public
perception of the Social Security Board. And a lot of that has to do
with what’s good governance practices – how an institution is run for
the greatest benefit of its shareholders – or in this case,
stakeholders – the regular folks who must make that monthly
contribution.
For the past three days – the members of the board of directors and managers have been learning all about corporate governance from Valda Henry, a regional expert on Social Security. She told us that managing Social Security requires a special kind of corporate vigilance and we asked the Chairman if his Board is up to the task. Valda Henry, VF Inc. “It is truly an important issue and the reason is because of all of the scandals that have taken place worldwide. But even in our own communities we have our own small scandals but it is a recognition of the important role of board members, the role that they play in ensuring that the organizations that they govern are managed effectively, are governed effectively and that there is accountability, transparency to stakeholders and for Social Security, as I often say, may be the most important institution in any of our communities. Social Security institutions hold money in trust and that gives them a duty of care over and above the normal duty of care where they must operate, board members, managers, and staff, must operate in the sole best interest of Social Security and so the best interest of the stakeholders of Social Security.” Read More The
Politics of the Supreme Court
Godfrey Smith In
Belize the preoccupation is not with how liberal or conservative the
Supreme Court is. Far more basic than that, people look to see whether
justices of the Supreme Court are controlled by the government of the
day or are susceptible to corruption. Read More
Swifter
decline for coral reefs
 Nearly 1,554 sq km (600 sq miles) of
reef
have
disappeared each year since the 1960s - twice the speed at which
rainforest is being lost.
The corals are vanishing at a rate of 1% per year, a decline that has begun decades earlier than expected. One of the most surprising results was that there seemed to be little difference between reefs maintained by conservationists and those left unprotected. Dr Bruno and Ms Selig argue that the consistent pattern of decline across the study region adds to mounting evidence that coral loss is a global phenomenon. This is probably due to large-scale processes such as climate change, they say. This is likely to have a major impact on many island communities, which rely on the reefs for fisheries and tourism. "The actions of people in Iowa, for example, have a big effect on people in small islands and throughout this whole Indo-Pacific region. It affects their livelihoods dramatically," Dr Bruno told the BBC. "When corals died, there were some studies which showed how quickly the dive shops and the hotels closed down." The UN says that a third of the world's coral reefs have already died. By 2030, that figure is predicted to be closer to 60%. Read More
NOTICES/LETTERS
TO THE EDITOR
CHURCH
SERVICE
AT
HOLY CROSS
Church services will be held at Holy Cross Anglican School on Sunday, August 12 at 10 am. Guest preacher will be Rev. Julie Bryant from Pacific Palisades, California. the entire community is cordially invited. All parents of registered Holy Cross Anglican School students are required to attend the parent/teacher conference on August 26 at 2 pm. The new school year begins Monday, September 3. For any additional information, please call the School office at 226-3456. THOUGHT
OF THE DAY
A sobering thought: what if, at this very moment, I am living up to my full potential? THE SAN PEDRO DAILY ARCHIVES |
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 www.grandcaribe.bz debbiewade@gmail.com
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