PUP Chairman agrees Chamber should have been consulted on GOB’s measures to tackle inflation

Also chiming in on Minister Mai’s comments, which apparently ruffled the chamber’s feathers, was PUP Chairman, Henry Charles Usher. Usher, who is one of the government representatives on the Joint Union Negotiating Team, says he believes there could have been more consultation. Usher says while he doesn’t believe Mai’s comments were rude, he does agree with the chamber’s concerns. 

Henry Charles Usher, Minister of the Public Service, Constitutional and Political Reform: “I haven’t seen them take offense to it, but I did see that they were saying that they were not consulted and I believe that they should have been consulted. The two ministries that were dealing with increasing the number of price-regulated items were the Ministry of Agriculture, Minister Mai, and the Ministry of Human Development, Minister Dolores, and they actually put together a big group that was looking at all of the different items and what Belizeans, stay at home moms, working moms, working dads, all of those persons that go to the store to shop, they are the ones that put together that list. Perhaps there could have been more consultation with the business community but remember that we did as a government meet with certain sectors of the business community as well on this particular issue of prices. So it’s not like they didn’t have any consultation at all but as to the specific items of the price-regulated goods perhaps there could have been more consultation.”