[ad_1]
Today, the Association of Beneficiaries and Retired Public Servants (ABRPO) protested in Belmopan for the second time this year. In March, the association protested to the National Assembly after the 2023 demonstrations did not yield any results. The association wants the Public Service Workers Trust Fund (PSWT) to be dissolved and its beneficiaries to be compensated in cash. These civil servants, whose salaries and pay increases were frozen between 1995 and 1997, believe that the government is dragging its feet on the issue. Two months ago, the group met with Prime Minister John Briceno, but since then, they have not been able to contact him. This morning, a small number of members held signs and placards in front of the Prime Minister’s office in the hope of meeting him. ABRPO President Hubert Enriquez said the move came after the Prime Minister did not live up to the agreement he had reached earlier this year.
Hubert Enriguez, President of ABRPO, said: “We agreed to meet monthly. It’s been two months now so we’ve had meetings and sent out reminders and so on. There’s been no response. So now we’re at a point where time is really not on our side. People are dying so we feel the need to remind the Prime Minister that this is, in fact, an emergency. So we’re here to do that because unless we meet, people are dying and it’s not clear whether the beneficiaries of these deceased people will be able to benefit from this trust. So it’s very important to meet and discuss this. We think there’s not necessarily any objection to dissolving the trust, the government has agreed to do that, but they need to make time for it because they have to make time for other things. That’s why we’re here today.”
reporter: Why do you feel the Prime Minister has seemed to ignore you over the past two months?
Hubert Enriguez, President of ABRPO, said: “To be honest with you, I think they really want to resolve this. We know, or we think, that the attorney general has made some recommendations to them so far. We don’t know why we haven’t met. We don’t know why at all. We can’t say why, but we hope that we can do it very, very quickly, and all of this is to alert him that we need to meet.”
Enriquez added that ABRPO advocates for compensation in the form of money and believes that any other form of compensation would be an insult to their years of hard work.
Hubert Enriguez, President of ABRPO, said: “We need funds that are paid legally. You know, it is illegal under the law to pay our salaries in any non-legal currency. That’s why we said we need to sort out these funds and pay the salaries. This is the easiest way and the way to get rid of it.”
reporter: So now you feel it is appropriate to protest here today, but…if this doesn’t work and there is still no meeting afterwards, I mean, what are you going to do next?
Hubert Enriguez, President of ABRPO: “Yes, it’s just a small number of our executives who are here today. Of course, we see larger protests, which is why protests will break out again. But we don’t think we really need to go there. We think the meeting will be held soon. We just want to remind the Prime Minister, listen, we are here. We want to have this meeting and we can resolve this issue as soon as possible and start as soon as possible. We will continue to fight for the rights they deserve. This is a process. We believe that in the end we will succeed and the trust will go away. It takes time and patience, and if it can’t be resolved, it’s up to us to take the next step and take more of these actions. As I said, we are very, very confident that this problem will be resolved sooner or later.”
According to Enriquez, many of the beneficiaries have passed away.
[ad_2]
Source link
