Minister Zabaneh Outlines Strategy for His Expanded Government Responsibilities

Minister of Constitution and Religious Affairs, Indigenous Affairs, and Transportation, Dr. Louis Zabaneh, has outlined his strategy for effectively managing the diverse responsibilities of his ministry. Previously serving as Minister of State for Education, Science, and Culture, Dr. Zabaneh now has an expanded portfolio. Under the Briceno Administration’s last term in government, several key projects and initiatives were launched that now fall under Dr. Zabaneh’s ministry. He spoke to our newsroom about the hefty portfolio and his plan to collaborate across sectors to address the unique challenges within each area. 

Dr. Louis Zabaneh, Minister of Transport: “We have the People’s  Constitution Committee that’s working to get their draft completed to send to us, to the Prime Minister and to Cabinet. Then we have Religious Affairs, which we’ve been working already with Minister Usher and the religious community and I look forward to continuing that work, building an even stronger relationship with the religious community. We also have Indigenous Affairs, which is a continuation of the work that has already started with the  Maya Leaders Alliance, the people in Toledo generally, and of course the Maya communities to look at how we will  be able to finish the work that needs to be done as directed by the decision from the CCJ in 2015. And then we also have transportation. So those are quite a bit of important areas that  I am  privileged to have been asked by Prime Minister to lead. You know, they all have their own unique challenges,  but they’re all,  as with the other ministries, focused on improving the quality of life at the end of the day of our people in Belize, improving the sustainable human development of our people. So that is what we’re focused on. The People’s Constitution Commission have come up with their draft of 167 recommendations. Those will be looked at very seriously by cabinet and then with religious affairs, of course, we have the  Church-State Partnership that has served us well over the years. Of course, we have people who feel otherwise, and we clearly can see the benefit of that partnership over the years but it’s an evolving relationship in which we must communicate, we must work together to bring to bear the inputs from the religious community.”

Dr. Zabaneh is also the Dangriga Area Representative.