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Public officers took time off from work today to check up on their health and wellness, amid the imminent salary cuts that they are facing. This morning, they visited health centers and clinics across the country to get checkups, as well as vaccinations against COVID-19. It is part of an ongoing series of activities leading […]
Written on April 21, 2021 | Posted in
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P.S.U. Vice President Dean Flowers has been vocal in expressing the union’s objection to government’s wage cut. He has not shied away from making it known that public officers are not happy with their salaries being reduced amid the current economic crisis. That frankness has led his detractors to bring to light what they call […]
Written on April 21, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Dean Flowers Addresses Smear Campaign
Earlier this month, we told you that Sir Colville Young is stepping down as Governor General of Belize. He will vacate the post officially on the thirtieth of April. So Belize is expected to name a new individual to be considered as the next G.G. of Belize. Multiple credible reports coming out of government is […]
Written on April 21, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Role of the Governor General in Belize’s Government
Last week, the environmental community came out swinging at the Department of Environment which granted environmental clearance to David Gegg’s Port Magical. They said that Magical will have negative environmental impact, particularly when taken in context with other proposed cruise ship ports. Among these other projects is the Waterloo Holdings proposal. The plans include onshore […]
Written on April 21, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Lord Ashcroft Explains Waterloo Proposal
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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Comments Off on Lord Ashcroft Sounds Off on Economic Issues in Belize. Is the IMF a Solution?
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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Comments Off on Lord Ashcroft Speaks on Belize Bank-Scotiabank Merger
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 Public Service Union continued its activism today with members picketing various locations across the country, including service stations down south in Stann Creek District. They were joined in some municipalities by the Belize National Teachers Union, with whom they are allied, as part of a multilateral body that has been in discussion with the […]
Written on April 20, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on P.S.U. Marches on Albert Street at High Noon
On Friday, a letter was sent to the joint unions from the Minister of Public Service where a proposal for a tiered approach to reducing the wages of teachers and public officers was being suggested. In that letter, Minister Henry Charles Usher puts forward the notion that the reductions can be staggered based on income […]
Written on April 20, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Joint Unions Rejected Tiered Approach to Salary Reduction
The letter sent to the joint unions on Friday cited sections of the constitution that refer to the Governor General’s involvement in signing into force fixed salaries for those being paid from the public purse. Flowers told News Five the Briceño administration is being unreasonable. Isani Cayetano “Do you find it perhaps disingenuous that […]
Written on April 20, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Unions Say Go after the Big Fish, Not Small Workers
In Orange Walk Town, a hand full of public servants marched around the Central Park in the sweltering midday heat. There were no picket signs or anti-corruption placards being waved at that location. Their laps around the Central Park were done with no loud singing or shouts of solidarity. Instead, it was a quiet protest […]
Written on April 20, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on P.S.U. Orange Walk Protest in Central Park
Flanking the Orange Walk P.S.U. members in Central Park today were members of the Nurses Association of Belize. According to President Darrell Spencer, members feel compelled to protest right now, but he assures the public they are manning their various medical stations. He says nurses have a history of activism in Belize. Darrell Spencer, […]
Written on April 20, 2021 | Posted in
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Today, the Police Association called a press conference to address a letter being circulated that addresses the salary cuts and the increment freeze that will also affect police officers. While the document, addressed to the Minister of Home Affairs and copied to the Commissioner of Police, did not carry the official letterhead and signatures of […]
Written on April 20, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Police Association Breaks Silence on Salary Cut/Increment Freeze
There are approximately two thousand one hundred police officers who belong to the association. While Hyde did not wish to take a position, the letter speaks to getting assistance from the ministry to offset the cut in salaries. He breaks down the realities facing police officers. Sgt. Jermaine Hyde, Chairman, Police Association “Majority of […]
Written on April 20, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on An Appeal to the Minister of Home Affairs
This morning the body of thirty-three-year-old Herwin Godoy was recovered from the river, only about a hundred yards away from where he went down on Sunday afternoon. His body was caught in a net placed within the river at the end of the search day on Monday. Just after six o’clock this morning, the family […]
Written on April 20, 2021 | Posted in
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If you were trying to get to work or school this morning, you may have had your commute delayed by the Belize National Teachers Union and Public Service Union highway blockades. The traffic shutdown was part of a week of protest actions leading up to Thursday and Friday’s budget debate inside the National Assembly. At […]
Written on April 19, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Unions Stage Monday Morning Traffic Blockade
While members of the Belize Police Department are also subject to the ten percent salary cut and increment freeze, today they were out to preserve law and order. ComPol Chester Williams weighs in on how they ensured that there was no confrontation with the teachers and public officers. Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police “The […]
Written on April 19, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on ComPol Told Police to Exercise Restraint during Blockades
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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Comments Off on Police Association: “Police Officer Can’t Afford Salary Cut”
Today, the United Democratic Party lost one of its giants. Nestor Vasquez, who was one of the founding members of the party in 1973, a key player in the creation of Belize Telecommunications Limited and a broadcast television pioneer passed away. The United Democratic Party leadership expressed its sorrow and announced they would be flying […]
Written on April 19, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Nestor Vasquez Dies at 90
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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Comments Off on B.T.L. Reduces Staff by 4%
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
