_{Association of Beneficiaries and Retired Public Officers}

Six to eight ABRPO members to picket P.M.’s office until he honors his promise.

by William Ysaguirre

BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Jan. 23, 2025

The Association of Beneficiaries and Retired Public Officers (ABRPO), approximately 600 surviving public servants and teachers who had their wage increments frozen from 1995 to 1997, are seeking to get a final payout of their long overdue back pay from the Public Sector Workers Trust. The ABRPO has called on the government to dissolve the Trust and pay out the over $9 million in funds from the Trust to the intended beneficiaries, including the families of some 240 public workers who were affected by the wage freeze, but who have since died. The Association explained their claim to the media at the Belize Institute of Management in Belize City on Tuesday morning, January 21.

At the end of the wage freeze, the UDP administration of Prime Minister Manuel Esquivel offered to compensate the affected public employees for their lost increments by granting them 490,000 shares in Belize Telecommunications Ltd (BTL). Over the years, the dividends from those shares have accrued to $9.08 million according to their last financial report of December 2023. These funds were paid into the Public Sector Workers Trust, created by the Barrow administration in 2014, and became the subject of litigation when some 640 of these beneficiaries, led by Sheila Genitty, lodged a suit in the Supreme Court. The Genitty group won a judgement in March 2017, by which Justice Courtney Abel ruled that the Trust was invalid, unenforceable and in breach. But to date, the beneficiaries have yet to see any payment, as the Trust created various projects which were supposed to benefit the workers affected by the 1995-97 wage freeze.

One bone of contention is that when the Trust was created in 2014, it was to be managed by four trustees, representing four unions: the Public Service Union, the Belize National Teachers Union, the Police Association and the Nurses Association. These worthies interpreted the Trust to include all public workers, not only those who were affected by the wage freeze.

_{ABRPO – Hubert Enriquez}

Retired public officer Hubert Enriquez explained their concerns, that the ABRPO was established in 2019 to address. They are also concerned that with new service providers like Starlink entering the telecom market in Belize, this may erode the value of the BTL shares and the dividends earned. None of them are getting any younger, and some 240 of the public employees from 1997 have died.

The ABRPO met with Prime Minister Hon. John Briceño and the Minister of the Public Service, Hon. Henry Charles Usher in March 2024 to iron out these issues, and the Attorney General, Anthony Sylvester and Assistant Solicitor General, Samantha Matute were also present, ABRPO’s Lizbeth Castillo explained. The Prime Minister promised to dissolve the Trust so that the beneficiaries could be paid, but this cannot happen until the Genitty group withdraws their case from before the High Court.

_{ABRPO – Lizbeth Castillo}

The government proposed to publish a list on February 15 this year, of the beneficiaries who would receive a share of the payout, and would allow 60 days for any beneficiaries who find themselves not on the list to come forward and establish their claim. Castillo said she would prefer if 90 days were given, so that all beneficiaries can be informed, wherever they may be. The government also agreed to appoint a protector of the Trust, suggesting that this be the Financial Secretary, Joseph Waight; but Castillo expressed her misgivings that Waight may have too many other responsibilities to adequately take on the task of dissolving the Trust and giving the beneficiaries their due. She noted that the follow-up meeting was scheduled for July 2024, but they did not meet again with Minister Henry Usher until September 16 of last year. She said the ABRPO feels that the government is not showing them proper respect, citing that they have communicated with the Government 47 times, but only received 17 replies.

_{ABRPO – Annette Reneau}

ABRPO’s Annette Reneau complained that there has been no accountability, no mediation, and even the published financial reports are open to question. They see that the Trust has an office for which rent must be paid, and there are 3 – 4 employees working at the office, but the Trust’s annual expenses or liabilities have grown from $96,550 in 2022 to $325,914 in 2023, according to the Trust’s published financial report. They see the Trust spending money, but they do not feel that the beneficiaries are getting value for money. She noted that the Trust used to have a list of the beneficiaries published online, but that list has been removed.

_{ABRPO Marilyn Ordonez}

The ARBPO is now calling on the government to give them a written commitment; they want the Prime Minister’s promise on paper, in black and white, that the government will adhere to what was discussed. They feel that they are being disrespected, in that the Trustees propose to invest the funds in health and education projects to benefit all public officers, while they feel that the Trust funds should only benefit those public employees who were affected by the wage freeze in 1995-97. Rather than have the value of their monies diluted in this fashion, they would prefer to receive a cash payout before they die! They also announced that six to eight ABRPO members would picket the Prime Minister’s office until he honors his promise.