President of the PSU Jacqueline Willoughby

National President of the BNTU Jaime Panti has gone on record to criticize the Minister of Education and the Government for their non-adherence to the principles of social justice and transparency which were promised prior to elections. This statement was made in response to an outcry from the Orange Walk Branch of the BNTU regarding the transfers or victimization of 45 teachers in that district alone. Panti also condemned the arbitrary dissolution of high school boards.

And now, in response to a decision by the Minister of Agriculture to fire or transfer 22 persons from the Belize Agricultural Health Authority, the Public Service Union has woken up with a vengeance and is breathing fire on Prime Minister Dean Barrow and his UDP administration.

Today the BELIZE TIMES spoke with President of the PSU Jacqueline Willoughby, who told us that the union is condemning the UDP government for the firings of public servants with no clear justification. “It is obvious that they are doing it based on the public servants’ political affiliation,” Willoughby said. She claims that the PSU took its stance, and she chose to give an interview, not based on red nor blue, but strictly from a trade union standpoint, focusing on the welfare of the public servants.

Willoughby told the Belize Times that just two weeks after the UDP Central Government took office, Prime Minister Dean Barrow stated in a television interview that for ten years his people have been hungry, and on the fifteenth of July, he added to this position by stating that those persons who have been fired are nothing but collateral damage. Willoughby told us that the Union had no idea, however, that the Prime Minister meant that persons would be fired and victimized based on political affiliation.

Since those statements by the Prime Minister, there has been wide scale termination and victimization of public officers from the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Agriculture and even open vote workers.

Willoughby said that it is stated clearly in the Government Workers Regulations, in sections 24 and 25, that a person can be fired with payment if they are redundant. It is crystal clear, however, that that is not the current case, because the positions forcefully vacated are being filled immediately (by UDP political cronies.)

The firing of these people is bad form, bad for industrial relations and will only cause its erosion, said Willoughby. She also says that the Union is upset by certain Ministers getting up and speaking about corruption in certain departments. The PSU president says she just wishes that the UDP would focus rather on a comprehensive plan for change, as was promised.

Willoughby says she knows for a fact that in certain ministries, investigations are being carried out internally to determine the political affiliation of employees.

She claims that she has seen the list with 22 employees of BAHA – 12 of whom are to be fired and 10 of whom are to be transferred. As far as she is concerned, says Willougby, the Minister of Agriculture had no reason ‘putting his hand’ into BAHA’s business. What further concerns her is the fact that the people the UDP is trying to get rid of are people who are not easily replaceable, such as veterinarians and agronomists.  These are much needed technical people, she said.

If it was not for the fact that the Managing Director of BAHA did not sign onto the letters, already available for the 22 persons, it would have been delivered to them already. Willoughby noted that just because the Managing Director did not sign the letters, she was forced to resign.

The PSU president told the Belize Times that she has verified that the hospital administrator of the Southern Regional Hospital (SRH) in Dangriga has been fired. In her post now sits a person with an Associates Degree, as opposed to the Bachelor’s Degree required for the position.  The persons they are using to replace qualified persons don’t possess the proper qualifications to fill the post, said Willoughby.

Willoughby finished the interview by reiterating that the first priorities of the Union are the public officers, and they will not back down from their stance.