We've been telling you about the power purchase agreement with Santander, and the PCUS's claim that BEL was averaging out meter readings, but there's also the Full Tarriff Review. BEL is challenging the PUC's conclusions in that process - which means an independent expert will have to be appointed.

Here are both sides of that dispute:

The independent expert will be named in August and will submit his or her report three weeks later.

Senate Report Points to Penner

On Wednesday's news, we told you how the Senate passed a motion to adopt the final report from the Senate Special Select Committee on the Immigration Department.

As we told you, that report is 160 pages long. It represents the careful perusal of sworn testimonies and evidence-taking that the committee members carried out in the 13-month-long Senate Hearings on Immigration, which ended in December 2017.

7News has received a copy of the report, and although we've only had a brief chance to skim through it, the mountain of work that was carried out to produce it is readily apparent. The report systematically addresses many of the findings from the Auditor General's report on her audit of the Immigration Department for the period 2011-2013.

Over the course of the next few days, we'll report on different portions of the Senate Report, but tonight, we share a few of its conclusions and recommendations.

At Page 151, the Senate Committee says, quote, "The report and the evidence which unfolded at the public hearings painted an unflattering portrait of the Immigration Department at the time of the audit....The evidence displayed a significant breakdown across the system with serious failures in the issuance of visas, nationality, and passports…..It is our considered view that the picture presented was undoubtedly the result of years of entrenched exploitation of vulnerable and outdated systems and processes….although the period of the audit was from 2011 to 2013, there is abundant evidence in the material presented by the Auditor General which point specifically and convincingly to a breakdown of systems which occurred across administrations." End quote.

Then, at page 153, the Committee says, quote, "We are satisfied that the Auditor General found numerous instances where our nationality was obtained illegally. All the evidence before us points to the attractive assumption that the findings of the Auditor General only represent the proverbial "tip of the iceberg".… We urge the Minister of Immigration to consider the contents of the Auditor General's Report with a view to making a determination, upon a review of the relevant files, whether the information is satisfactory enough for him to declare any of those persons as ceasing to be citizens of Belize." End quote.

At page 154, the Committee says, quote, "We need to consider seriously electronic solutions which should include, as a starting point, databases for the management of information for visas, permanent residence, and nationality. The Department was exploited to a large extent because we have been relying on 1960s "technology" such as ledgers, files, registers, and the like. End quote.

And finally, in our thin slice of the Senate report, at page 158, it says, quote, "Given the nature of what we have seen…we are left with no doubt that there were corrupt forces operating within and around the immigration department...There is evidence that this situation was allowed or perhaps encouraged to fester under the period of stewardship of Minister Elvin Penner." End quote.

We'll have much more next week.

The Book of Godwin On Immigration

During Wednesday's motion at the Senate to adopt the findings of the Special Select Committee, Godwin Hulse, the substantive Minister of Immigration, made sure to remind his colleagues that years before the Senate Hearings on Immigration, there was a raft of legislative reforms that the Barrow Government undertook to address the weakness in Immigration.

Some of his comments are points he has already made on the topic of the Ministry. But, they are relevant once again, since one of the main objectives of this Senate inquiry, was to identify how the Department's systems were exploited, and how best to address them.

Here's what Hulse told his colleagues on Wednesday:

Chamber Takes Up For Its Senator

And, keeping it in the senate, the Belize Chamber of Commerce is calling foul on what it characterizes as "disrespectful treatment" of its Senate representative, Mark Lizarraga, on Wedensday. The particular instance they are referring to is an exchange between Lizarraga and Attorney General Michael Peyrefitte.

Lizarraga was among the senators who expressed concern about new Election and Boundaries Chairman Steve Perrera's ability to act as a fair and impartial leader of the Commission.

The Chamber says that Lizarraga was acting on instructions from his constituents including the chamber. But, the Attorney General took aim at Lizarraga's remarks to present a counter-argument in support of Perrera's appointment as the Chairman of the Elections and Boundaries Commission.

Here's that part of the debate from Wednesday:

In a press release yesterday, the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry said, quote, "The …Chamber… has noted with grave concern the inappropriate and disrespectful treatment of our Business Senator in the Senate Meetings…the Senator…ensures, without fail, that he consults with his constituents…Lizarraga has consistently voted in the best interest of the constituents he represents, and not along partisan political lines…

Creating Opportunity Out of A Garbage Dump

And, finally tonight, we take you down Albert Street, not far from our newsroom where yesterday we saw the city council and the aspiring PUP standard bearer cleaning up Simmon's Alley. That's where a whole empty lot was over-run with garbage, a breeding ground for disease and a feeding ground for rats. This alley connects Albert Street to Wagner's Lane - and Paul Thompson said cleaning it could create economic opportunity: