Council of Churches Explains its Position on Salary Reductions

Moses Benguche

The Council of Churches was equally vocal on the issue of the ten percent pay cut that teachers and public officers will be getting for the next three years. For them, the bone of contention with the Briceño administration is that it appears to have been disingenuous when it stated recently that the deduction from teachers’ salaries was a decision made by management.  Senator Benguche was part of that discussion in parliament.

Bishop Moses Benguche, Belize Council of Churches

“The position of the church at the beginning and from the beginning, and I go on record as the senator representing the church in the senate, to say that when we were first approached on two different occasions, the church body was approached to support what was being put forward, what was being put forward by the government insofar as the ten percent was concerned and why.  We asked for some time to sit down and think it through and we did and we came up with the decision that we would support what was being put forward by the government insofar as sacrificial giving was concerned and I continue to use that word and emphasize that word, sacrificial.  And it was to be across the board, for everybody, that was the understanding and the agreement that was made with the church leaders.  But in recent times, we have had cause to wonder if that is what will continue to take place or what is happening even now because we have had cause to see that that aspect in a sense, I am careful to use the word, has been breached, in a sense.  And those have drawn our concerns as to why it was important for us to bring out a press release at this time.”