ComPol Says He’d Rather Take a Pay Cut over Retrenchment

Chester Williams

The members of law enforcement agencies are also recognised as public officers and so they too would be subject to the ten percent salary cut and increment freeze proposed by government. It has not been sitting well with officers at the Belize Police Department and so today, during a virtual interview with Commissioner of Police Chester Williams, he explains that he would rather take a pay cut than see retrenchment.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“I don’t think the constraint was brought about by anybody, but rather a pandemic. We have been in this for almost a year now that the government has to be struggling to find monies to continue to operate. And so me personally, I would rather take the ten percent cut than to see the government having to resort to firing people. If I get a ten percent cut, I still have a job and I may also save other people from being laid off. And so I rather see it that way as oppose to towing a very hard line of not cutting and then the government decides that they are going to cut staff to be able to meet the emoluments of its employees.”

The Police Association will be meeting with its members to take a position on the proposed salary cut.