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Lord Michael Ashcroft also spoke about the current economic crunch that Belize is facing. Ashcroft says that the government is staring down a tough decision, but one that must be made sooner rather than later. He put the challenges in context with the unions’ position on proposed measures to say that there are options to […]
Written on April 21, 2021 | Posted in
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At the end of March, Scotia Bank closed, ending more than fifty years in Belize as signs were taken down after the bank was acquired by Belize Bank Corporation Limited, a subsidiary of Caribbean Investment Holdings Limited. Belize Bank is now the largest commercial bank in Belize. When he appeared on Open Your Eyes this […]
Written on April 21, 2021 | Posted in
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Can legislation help to tackle corruption in Belize while simultaneously cutting costs? That’s what Lord Michael Ashcroft suggests. He says that a key piece of regulation that protect whistleblowers could encourage an anti-corruption agenda but that legislation should also protect the whistleblowers against retaliatory actions when they report suspected acts of corruption. Here’s how he […]
Written on April 21, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Can Legislation Help to Curb Corruption?
Ashcroft points out there are other tools and regulations that G.O.B. can adopt to reduce corruption. One of the measures refers to the “Unexplained Wealth Law” or “wealth order” where if probes show that someone’s total wealth exceeds their lawfully obtained wealth, he or she will have to explain how they achieved that wealth. Using […]
Written on April 21, 2021 | Posted in
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The Joint Unions Negotiating Team, comprised of the Public Service Union, the Association of Public Service Senior Managers and the Belize National Teachers Union, met with government representatives on Friday. The meeting with Minister of Public Service Henry Charles Usher succeeded a recent breakdown in negotiations that has resulted in an impasse between the unions […]
Written on April 19, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on A Letter from G.O.B. to the Unions over Salary Adjustments
According to Fraser, government is intent on docking the wages of teachers and public officers. What is presently on the table is a proposal that the salary deductions can be implemented using a tiered approach of eight, ten and twelve percent, respectively, depending on one’s income bracket. Sharon Fraser, President, A.P.S.S.M. “That seems to […]
Written on April 19, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on A Staggered Approach to Wage Cut; Up to 12% for Some for Employees
The Nurses Association of Belize is not part of the Joint Unions Negotiating Team but it is standing in solidarity with teachers and public officers. Its membership will also be affected by the pending wage cut. In protest, nurses who are members of the association will only be working the prescribed forty hour work week, […]
Written on April 19, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Despite Shortage of Manpower, Nurses Will Cut Down on Working Overtime
Following suit with the Joint Unions, the Police Association has also taken a position on G.O.B.’s ten percent salary cuts and three year increment freeze. The Police Association’s position is that police officers cannot afford the ten percent salary cut at all. According to a release from the association, a letter with its position was […]
Written on April 19, 2021 | Posted in
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Twenty-four B.T.L. employees were laid off today in what the company is terming a four percent “workforce reduction.” B.T.L. says despite cost cutting measures implemented over the last fiscal year, the redundancies became necessary due to a thirty-three million dollar decline in revenue over this period. The telecom company says it was able to save […]
Written on April 19, 2021 | Posted in
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Union protests heated up today as teachers took to the streets in a number of municipalities. In Belize City, members of the Belize National Teachers Union picketed outside the branch offices of Belize Telemedia Limited and Smart, sending a message to not only these companies, but also to the government to once again denounce a […]
Written on April 16, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Teachers Picket in Belize City
Elsewhere, the numbers seemed greater, especially in the Capital, Belmopan. B.N.T.U. members paraded in front of the B.T.L. branch on the Ring Road and the Smart Belmopan branch on Constitution Drive. Wearing their green “teechaz gat yuh bak” shirts, the sweltering heat did not stop the picketing. Duane Moody has more. Norlan Galvez, B.N.T.U. […]
Written on April 16, 2021 | Posted in
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In response to the protests at their offices, this afternoon, Belize Telemedia Limited stated categorically that the telecom giant does not owe any taxes in areas. During a press conference at corporate headquarters, Chairman Mark Lizarraga and C.E.O. Ivan Tesecum said despite efforts made to reach out to the leadership of the Belize National Teachers […]
Written on April 16, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Belize Telemedia Limited Responds to Teachers’ Picketing!
But according to Lizarraga, after making inquiries with the Belize Tax Service, they received a letter on April fifteenth that there were outstanding arrears for the period 2002 to March 2010. Those arrears amounted to some eighteen point two million dollars, but due to section thirty-nine of the Income Tax and Business Act, a four-year […]
Written on April 16, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Chairman Says B.T.L. Does Not Owe Any Taxes in Arrears!
Will a trade dispute also be filed against Public Service Minister Henry Charles Usher? On Wednesday, the joint unions’ team received a letter from the minister outlining the pay cut. We can tell you that it is not going to be ten percent straight across the board for all public officers and teachers, but rather, […]
Written on April 15, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on P.S.U. Vice Prez Breaks Down Salary Cut Proposal
First Vice President of the Public Service Union, Dean Flowers, also gave a comment on the recent land compensation judgment that was afforded to a company owned by Olivia Villanueva. In that judgment, the government has been ordered to pay Ivorr Realty approximately five point six million dollars for a one-hundred and two-acre parcel of […]
Written on April 15, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on P.S.U. Comments on Recent Land Compensation Judgment
Speaking about land, Flowers says that the government is prepared to cut the salaries of public officers when there are hundreds of millions of dollars in arrears and taxes that have not been collected at the Ministry of Natural Resources. So is there an option that the Briceño administration can look into? Dean Flowers, […]
Written on April 15, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Hundreds of Millions of Dollars Outstanding at Lands Department
Flowers also commented on reports that well-connected individuals owe taxes to G.O.B., but they are not held to the same standards as regular business people. He says the Prime Minister needs to read the regulations. Dean Flowers, 1st Vice President, Public Service Union “The Prime Minister said the Belize Tax Services calculate tax arrears […]
Written on April 15, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Union Alleges Well-Connected Persons Owe Taxes
The B.H.A. President Ted Tejada is appealing to both government and the unions to return to the discussion table to resolve the impasse, because it threatens to further cripple the economy and the country, which is already in a fragile state. Ted Tejada, President, Belize Hotel Association “The country is in financial problems right […]
Written on April 15, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on B.H.A. Prez Calls on Unions & G.O.B. to Resolve Impasse
As extraordinary as it sounds, the Belmopan City Council is facing possible eviction from the Belmopan City Hall, and all three additional City Council structures on the property. News Five’s Paul Lopez has more on this dramatic turn of events. Paul Lopez, Reporting News Five has learnt that the National Bank of Belize has […]
Written on April 14, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Belmopan City Council Faces Evection from City Hall
The Public Service Union officially served the government with its notice of a trade dispute on Monday, following a poll of its membership after the government’s 2021-22 budget presentation. The dispute comes on the heels of government’s intent to freeze increments and slashing salaries by ten percent for three years despite protracted efforts by the […]
Written on April 13, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on P.S.U. Serves Notice of Trade Dispute to G.O.B.
While strike action is highly anticipated when the twenty-one-day period expires, first vice president of the Public Service Union, Dean Flowers says that a work-to-rule campaign, as an initial form of industrial action, has already taken effect. He says this must occur because the unions see this as a fight against economic injustice and a […]
Written on April 13, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Lookout for Industrial Action from Unions
But with the state of the economy, what are the options available? Dean Flowers says that public sector spending has been driving the economy for over the past decade under the Barrow administration. He explains how the decision on public officers’ salaries and increments, as well as other cuts to government purchasing, will have ripple […]
Written on April 13, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on P.S.U.: Public Sector Spending Drives Economy
It seems the recent increase in the price of regular gasoline just in time for Easter travel across the country, has settled back down again. Today the Ministry of Finance announced that on Tuesday, April thirteenth the pump price for regular gasoline will decrease by thirty-nine cents from eleven dollars and five cents to ten […]
Written on April 12, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Fluctuation in Price of Regular Gasoline
After weeks of back and forth between the Prime Minister, his Cabinet and Financial Secretary and the joint unions who have now filed notice of industrial action, the 2021-22 national budget was presented in the House of Representatives this morning. News Five’s Isani Cayetano has the details. Prime Minister John Briceño “The sixth most […]
Written on April 9, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on The 2021 Budget Presentation at a Glance
Once today’s House Meeting was adjourned, the press met Prime Minister John Briceño outside the National Assembly chambers. As viewers may be aware, while PM Briceño has debated numerous budget presentations as Opposition, today was his first budget presentation as leader of the country. His presentation went on for approximately eighty-three minutes, a personal record. […]
Written on April 9, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on PM Lays Out Financial Crisis in Budget Presentation
