KHMH Staff wants to be pensionable

Yesterday, the leaders of the KHMHA Union hosted a press conference in which several issues were ventilated. One of the pressing concerns was the matter involving pension. For quite some time now, the Union has been fighting for the staff at the KHMH be pensionable. But it’s become a challenge since 2019 because back then the administration of the hospital wrote to the Union, saying that workers there are not pensionable since they are not defined as public officers. This morning Love News asked the Prime Minister, John Briceno, about it. 

John Briceno, Prime Minister of Belize: “We wish we could have addressed it from day one let’s start with that but we’ve had so many other pressing issues that we have to address in trying to stabilise the Belize dollar, stabilise the Belizean economy, stabilise government’s expenditure and get the economy going and growing and creating opportunities for Belize. I’m not in any way suggesting that the pensions for KHMH workers is not important, it’s very important, it’s high in our agenda. I met with them briefly for the anniversary I think it was last month I think and they were asking for a meeting I said yes we are going to meet with you but I was recommending and suggesting let them meet first with the Minister of Health and once they have that meeting then I will come in to see how we can settle it. It is unfortunate that in two instances that they called the meeting something came up at the minister could not meet with them. This last time he was telling me that he offered to meet with them via Zoom but they preferred to meet in person so it’s not that the Minister Bernard is trying to avoid them he is not. I guess you all know Minister Bernard, Minister Bernard is a very open friendly person, very approachable it’s just sometimes unfortunate of different issues coming up that that the meetings that they set have been unable to meet. For instance I had a meeting set with the NTUCB yesterday, I had a whole list of issues that they want us to address I had already set the meeting for yesterday at 2:00 o’clock but it so happened then that the foreign minister was also asking for a meeting with the social partners which included the NTUCB to discuss the issue with the Sarstoon, the Pact of Bogota and the unjustifiable claim that Honduras has over the Sapodilla Cayes. I thought that was more pressing because we have to quickly push to be able to get Honduras to the ICJ then to be able to address holistically all of Belize. So I said OK I will step back let them meet and then I am hoping to set a meeting early next week or else as soon as I get back from Costa Rica I will meet with them.”