Youth and Sports Minister of State Denies Mass Layoff Rumors Amid Restructuring

Tonight, the Ministry of State of Youth and Sports is rejecting rumors of a mass layoff at the Department of Youth Services (DYS) and the National Sports Council. Yesterday, the Public Service Union (PSU) issued a release claiming that the ministry would looking to fire as many as 300 people. The union alleged that it had received credible reports that the ministry would reduce its staff and called on the government to be more human-centered in its approach. However, it seems that the PSU may have jumped the gun because the ministry says it has not made any such decision. The ministry has embarked on efforts to optimize its operations, improve efficiency, and reactivate dormant programs at the facilities, which may lead to some changes at the organizations. Today, Minister of State of Youth and Sports Devin Daly spoke about the situation and why the ministry is looking at ways to improve the support it provides to the nation’s youth.

Devin Daly, Minister of State, Youth and Sports: “We have never stated myself, nor Minister Mahler or the CEO about any  specific number of cuts. We came in from the jump, it was with consultations with the directors and a team director of both NSC,  sports and for youth.  We’ve had  three or four meetings already asking them,  reviewing the programs, reviewing the staff, and just asking them, you know this is what is allocated for youth and sports. Do you feel like we’re getting the bang for our buck and what are the changes that you guys believe? At the end of the day, public servants and the staff from NSC, they know intimately what is happening in these departments. We are just here to make amendments to the policies that we see fit for our vision and for our new mandate.”

Reporter: Is there any figure in terms of how many persons, you know, may be a part of this process?  
Devin Daly, Minister of State, Youth and Sports: “There’s no specific number to say.  However, we believe that the only underlining thing here is that we believe that the departments can be run more efficiently.  So what we’re doing is that we’re looking, before we ask for more funds for these departments, what are the exact allocations for the funds that we already have? And then after we examine that, then we’ll get a more clear figure with consultation for both youth and sports, how is the best way forward. Instead of using majority of our funds for recurring expenditure we want these funds to go to the youth. We want these to go into sports. And I don’t think any Belizean or anyone listening to this interview would disagree with that. The cry for many years, which predates this administration has been, we need more money for youth. We need more money for sports in Belize and that’s what myself and Minister Mahler and the CEO we’re trying to do.”

While Daly says the ministry is unsure of what changes will be made, he noted that if there is a need to cut staff, those persons will be assisted with securing a job elsewhere. Additionally, he noted that the venture is solely geared toward improving the country’s support to its youth.

Devin Daly, Minister of State, Youth and Sports: “Our overall goal is to have facilities across the country that’s both suited for international and local play and public spaces that youths and the broader population can recreate and  visit and also have programs in place so that the youth department can see more growth in terms of the numbers  and the marginalised that they also deal with and for the sporting aspect is to raise our play in terms of development  for the actual outside and local play.”

Reporter: Is there any intent to work with the Ministry of Labour to maybe see how they can assist with job placement? 

Devin Daly, Minister of State, Youth and Sports: “Well,  you know, it’s  one team, it’s one government and we’re looking at ways, I mean, I don’t think any minister  gets up in the morning time with the intent to lay off staff. That’s never the intention. However, I believe that outside of creating employment, we also have to make sure that we find an efficient way to run these ministries.”

Daly noted that the ministry has moved to conduct audits at the entities that are expected to be completed soon.