Cabinet has approved the establishment of a Constitution Reform Commission to recommend changes to the constitution given Barbados’ Republic status.
Attorney General, Dale Marshall, revealed that retired judge Christopher Blackman was the chairman and that the other members of the commission will soon receive their warrants.
He stated: “We have agreed to the composition of that commission. So we are embarking on a process of constitutional reform. All of the persons who we recommended for appointment have been contacted and have agreed to serve and therefore the Cabinet Secretary is now in the process of liaising with Her Excellency for the preparation and signing of those warrants.”
Marshall explained that persons would be appointed under a special instrument called a warrant of appointment.
“I am hopeful that those things will all be accomplished between now and the middle of June,” he said adding that the team was anxious to get the job done.
In relation to the much anticipated breathalyser testing, Marshall said it was still on hold.
“There are a number of things that we consider important before we put that initiative in place. We are ready for it; we have all the equipment for it and there is training that has been done for it,” he said, adding that it was “vitally important for us to make sure that all the elements of the public transport system are working because when people go out they have to be able to get back home”.
Marshall stated: “If we don’t make sure that those things are done right what will happen is that people would try a thing and we don’t want them to have that opportunity; we don’t want them to have that excuse and therefore we are putting all of those measures in place.” (MB)