Teachers’ Union Sends Warning over Senate Committee

Last week News Five shared correspondence from Prime Minister Dean Barrow indicating that after the current allocation runs out in November, the Government would not continue to fund the Senate Special Select Committee. Its reason is that it wants to save funding for the Integrity Commission and implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption signed last December. But the Belize National Teachers’ Union doesn’t buy it. It says it wants the Committee to come to a natural conclusion without interference. In its press release issued today, the Union reminds that its efforts secured the establishment of the Committee, and warns that it nor the Belizean people will be hoodwinked by an attempt by Government to claim savings for two entities that have not shown any results, in their view.  In contrast, the Union says that the Committee is only a scratch on the surface” into the corruption of the Immigration Department, and that many other Government agencies have shown signs of corruption and irregularity that also need investigation. In an ominous warning, the Union says that its strike, that ended after eleven days last October, is only “on hold” and it will continue to monitor the work of the ‘check and balance’ organs.  Wednesday’s hearing in Belmopan will feature continued testimony from Director of Immigration Diana Locke and we will have the details in Wednesday’s newscast.