4 Deputy and 9 Assistant Comptrollers at Customs

A wage bill higher than before. But can Flowers substantiate that claim? He says just take a look at the Customs and Excise Department which now has four deputy comptrollers and nine assistant comptrollers. That’s right, nine.

Dean Flowers

Dean Flowers, President, Public Service Union

“What I can tell you is that where austerity is concerned and controlling the wage bill is concerned, this administration has not kept its side of the bargain and has not been truthful to the Belizean people that in fact they would have managed the wage bill and reduce or maintain the current workforce to ensure that the wage bill is not increasing. I can tell you it is not only within the Ministry of Health that you will see these additional posts or two posts being created at the higher end of the pay scale. But we have also seen that in the Customs and Excise Department–whereby the top management of that department has grown from two deputy comptroller to now as much as four deputy comptrollers of customs. I don’t know what all of them do. There was about five assistant comptrollers of customs and that has now expanded to nine assistant comptrollers of customs. So clearly the wage bill has not been managed in the way that this administration committed to managing it.”