Cutting the Wastage in Government

The press conference held by the Joint Unions of Belize covered its counterproposal to G.O.B. as they fight cuts to public officer and teacher salaries and a three-year increment freeze. But the unions also raised the issue of the high cost of government vehicles and the thousands of dollars in allowances paid to senior government officials. Here are some of their proposals to reduce wastage.

Elena Smith

Senator Elena Smith, National President, B.N.T.U.

“If we are serious about helping to bring back this economy, then we are saying to our ministers that they too must be giving up some of these things that they are asking us to give up. So at this point in time there is no need for any entertainment allowance. You can’t entertain anybody right now; gatherings are limited; nobody coming from anywhere right now that we would have to be entertaining them. So we are proposing and we are serious and adamant about this that our ministers should give up their entertainment allowance as well as their telephone allowance.”

Gerald Henry

Gerald Henry, President, P.S.U.

“The current status of the fuel quota that is currently in place will remain where they will be able to get their fuel on the government’s bill. Since the vehicles will become the property of these individuals, they will also be responsible for the licensing of these vehicles, the insuring of these vehicles and of course the general maintenance of these vehicles. So if anything is to go wrong, they will be the one to buy the parts for these vehicles. We saw lately a Lincoln navigator was purchased, we know how difficult parts are to get for that vehicle, but it will not be on the government to try to figure out how to get that part into the country; it would have to be the owner of that vehicle to figure it out. So they would have to exercise a bit more prudence when they are purchasing these vehicles. We want to implement existing policies as it relates to the usage of government vehicles for other public officers that are below the rank of the heads of departments and other senior government officials and ministers of course. They will need to park all their government vehicles by 5:15 p.m. every day. And they would have to park them at specific, secured identified parking areas countrywide.”

The joint unions recommend that ministers, C.E.O.s, H.O.D.s and other senior government officials should purchase their vehicles. Ministers and ministers of state would get an advance to purchase their vehicle in the amount of one hundred thousand maximum; C.E.O.’s seventy-five thousand dollars and for heads of departments and senior government officials there would be a cap on the advance of sixty thousand dollars.