Governor considers appropriate. The President may be elected by the Senate from amongst its own number, or from outside the Senate, but the VicePresident is elected by the Senate from amongst its own number. LAND POLICY The alienation of Crown land is carefully controlled to prevent, as far as possible, the acquisition of such land for purely speculative, non-productive purposes. No racial discrimination is exercised. During 1953 and 1954 a land use survey was carried out. A land policy, based on the findings and recommendations of the Survey Team, has been formulated and was published by Government in 1958. In order to encourage the economic development of the country a tax on undeveloped rural land was introduced in January 1966. GOVERNMENT At the 1963 Constitutional Conference it was agreed that the next general election should be held when it became due in the ordinary course, i.e. not later than March 1965. As the members of the legislature at that time were elected on the basis of the 1961 constitution, the conference agreed that the alterations in the legislature should not take place until after the next General Election, except that the two official seats in the legislature should be abolished when the new Constitution was introduced. The Constitution was introduced on 6th January 1964 and at the election held on 1st March 1965 the People's United Party (PUP) secured 16 seats and the National Independence Party (NIP) two seats. The House of Representatives elected a Speaker from outside the House. In the Senate a President was elected outside the Senate. The second election under the 1963 Self Government Constitution was held on 1st December 1969. The People's United Party won 17 out of 18 seats under the leadership of Premier George Price. Premier and Minister of Finance and Development: The Hon. George Price Minister of Agriculture, Lands and Cooperatives: The Hon. F. H. Hunter PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARIES Education, Housing and Labour: The Hon. F. Marin Agriculture, Lands and Cooperatives: The Hon. D. L. Mckay LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION Hon. P. S. W. Goldson HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Speaker: The Hon. W. H. Courtenay THE SENATE President: Ewart William Francis CIVIL ESTABLISHMENT Governor and Commander-in-Chief: His Excellency Sir John Paul, GCMG, OBE, MC Permanent Secretary, External Affairs: M. W. Atkinson, MBE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION D. N. F. Fairweather, OBE, ED (Chairman); A. S. Burns, OBE, JP; A. S. Pinks, JP; OFFICE OF THE SERVICE COMMISSION AND ESTABLISHMENT MINISTRY OF FINANCE AND ECONOMIC MINISTRY OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT, Social Development Officer: Mrs E. Superintendent of Prisons: S. P. S. Campbell MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND LANDS Permanent Secretary: A. V. Campbell MINISTRY OF PUBLIC UTILITIES AND Permanent Secretary: S. F. Smith Chief Civil Aviation Officer: L. C. Postmaster-General: C. B. Hyde JUDICIARY Chief Justice: Sir Clifford De L. Inniss, QC MAGISTRATES-Belize CITY Magistrate: E. M. Johnson Assistant Magistrate: A. B. Balderamos REGISTRAR OF SUPREME COURT AND (Vacant) THE JUDICIAL COMMISSION Sir Clifford De L. Inniss, Qc (Chief Justice) D. N. A. Fairweather, OBE, ED ANDERSON, A. H. Brief Sketch of British Honduras-Past, Present and CARR, D. and THORPE, J. From the Cam to the Cays. Putnam, 1961. GANN, THOMAS. Mystery Cities. Duckworth, 1925. GANN, THOMAS. Ancient Cities and Modern Tribes. Duckworth, 1926. GIBBS, ARCHIBALD ROBERTSON. British Honduras. An Historical and GREGG, A. ROBERT. British Honduras. Corona Library, 1968. JOYCE, T. A. Report on the Investigations at Lubantuum, British Honduras. PENDERGAST, Dr DAVID. Altun 4a. Government of Belize, 1969 SHERLOCK, PHILIP. History of Belize, Education Department, Belize City, 1969. SWAN, M. British Honduras. Phoenix House, 1957. WADDELL, D. A. G. British Honduras; A Historical and Contemporary BRITISH INDIAN OCEAN TERRITORY T (HE British Indian Ocean Territory consists of the Chagos Archipelago and the islands of Desroches, Farquhar and Aldabra. The headquarters of the territory is at Victoria on the island of Mahé in Seychelles. This island, which does not form part of the territory, lies some 1,000 miles east of Mombasa. The Chagos Archipelago is composed of six main groups of islands situated on a large shoal area, the Great Chagos Bank, the whole covering some 21,000 square miles of ocean. Diego Garcia, the largest and most southerly of the Chagos islands is 1,100 miles east of Mahé and consists of a V-shaped sand cay some 15 miles long with a maximum width of 7 miles. The arms approach at the top of the V almost cnclosing the large, deep lagoon. The permanent land area is about 17 square miles. The other main island groups of the archipelago are Peros Banhos and Salomon both of which consist of small sand cays lying on large, roughly circular atolls. In the case of Peros Banhos there are 29 islands with a total land area of 4 square miles and in Salomon there are 11 islands with a land area of 2 square miles. These three main island groups are run as coconut plantations and have an annual output of 1,200-1,500 tons of copra. There are guano deposits on Diego Garcia but these are not being worked except for use on the plantation. Most of the other islands of the archipelago were formerly coconut plantations but they are now uninhabited except for large flocks of sea birds. Desroches is a small sand cay 34 miles long and varying in width from a quarter to three-quarters of a mile with an area of 800 acres. It is 120 miles south-west of Mahé and is situated on the southern edge of an almost circular atoll 12 miles in diameter. The whole island is given over to coconut production and gives an average of 200 tons of copra a year. Farquhar, some 430 miles south-west of Mahé is an atoll 10 miles by 5 miles in extent. The principal islands occur on the northern and eastern sides of the atoll but there is also a small group of islands on the north-western rim. The total land area is some three square miles, all the suitable parts of which have been planted with coconuts. Some maize is also grown. Farquhar is the only island in the territory which is in the cyclone belt and considerable damage was done to the island by cyclones in 1930, 1954 and 1966. The present production of the island is about 250 tons of copra a year. There are large colonies of sea birds on the islands. Aldabra, the largest of the islands in the Territory, is a raised reef atoll nineteen miles in length and up to 74 miles in width with a land area of about 60 square miles. The land rim of the atoll is almost continuous being broken only by four narrow passages, the large but shallow lagoon containing many small islets and mud banks. On the seaward side the island is fringed by low cliffs rising to some 15 feet. On the southern side of the island there are stable sand dunes rising to 50 feet in some places. Inside the lagoon the perimeter is indented with innumerable small creeks and there are large areas of mangrove in the intertidal areas. The land surface is composed of limestone either of the champignon or pavé type. In the former type, which is the more common, the limestone has been eroded into a maze of jagged pinnacles, pits and crevices and is covered with dense scrub. The pavé consists of slabs of limestone with vegetation growing in the hollows. The island is unsuitable for coconuts and the main products are mangrove poles and fish. Because of their declining population, the taking of turtles was banned in 1968 for a ten-year period. The number of turtles has however declined considerably in recent years. Aldabra has an interesting flora and fauna including some rare and unique species. With the exception of the Galapagos it is the only remaining place where the giant tortoise is found in its natural state. The bird life is very rich including large colonies of frigate birds, some flamingos and a species of flightless rail thought to be unique to the island. It is also one of the breeding grounds of the sacred ibis. The comparatively undisturbed state of the eco-system of the atoll has aroused considerable scientific interest in recent years and the Royal Society has established a research station there. The islands are all owned by the Crown and there is no permanent population on any of them, the inhabitants being mainly labourers employed on contract by the lessees of the islands. This transient population varies considerably from time to time depending on the work being undertaken on the plantations but in mid-1969 it was 755, of whom 652 were on the Chagos islands. The islands have a typical tropical maritime climate. The average temperature in Diego Garcia, the only island for which accurate records exist, is 81°F, the average maximum and minimum temperatures being 84°F and 77°F. Rainfall in the Chagos archipelago is between 90 and 100 inches a year and between 40 and 60 inches in the other islands. There have been occasional outbreaks of malaria on Aldabra but apart from this the territory has few of the diseases normally associated with tropical climates. The British Indian Ocean Territory was established by an Order in Council on 8th November 1965 which provided for the appointment of a Commissioner who is responsible for the administration of the Territory. Before this date the islands of the Chagos archipelago were administered by the Government of Mauritius and the other islands by the Seychelles Government.The legislation in force in the individual islands at the time of the establishment of the Territory has remained in force except where it has been modified by laws made under the Order in Council. The history of the islands before the creation of the Territory is given in the sections on Mauritius and Seychelles. The currency is the Seychelles and Mauritius rupees both of which are tied to sterling at the rate of 1s. 6d. to one rupee. A definitive issue of B.I.O.T. stamps was made in January 1968 to replace the Seychelles and Mauritius stamps formerly used in the Territory. This consisted of Seychelles stamps overprinted B.I.O.T. and was replaced in October 1968 by a thematic series showing fishes of the Indian Ocean. There are no air communications. The islands are served by a B.I.O.T.-owned cargo/passenger boat which visits them approximately every three months. Small schooners from Seychelles pay occasional visits. Commissioner: Sir Bruce Greatbatch, CMG, CVO, MBE BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS HE Virgin Islands are situated approximately 50 miles east of Puerto Rico and straddle latitude 18° 25′ N and longitude 64° 30′ W. The territory being Tortola (21 square miles), Anegada (15 square miles), Virgin Gorda (81 square miles) and Jost Van Dyke (34 square miles). With the exception of Anegada, the islands represent a projection of Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands archipelago. Anegada, a flat coral feature consisting entirely of limestone, is the northernmost of the islands in the Atlantic and is surrounded by dangerous reefs. The other islands are hilly. Virgin Gorda rises to a central peak 1,370 feet high whilst Sage Mountain on Tortola reaches a height of 1,780 feet. There are no rivers and the vegetation is mostly light bush. The islands lie within the Trade Wind belt and possess a pleasant and healthy sub-tropical climate. The average temperature in Winter ranges from 71°-82°F |