And desperate times may lead to desperate measures because, according to the PSU president, less money in the public officers' purses and wallets may force them to become involved in illicit activities. He also noted that the officers already seem unmotivated to carry out their daily tasks knowing that their pay will be cut.
Gerald Henry, President, PSU
"One of the things we're looking at is that public officers will start to be get very demoralized and demotivated and that will cause a serious reduction in performance and as you all know the public service is actually the engine for the entire country of Belize. We are the ones who collect the taxes, we are the ones who use the taxes, in fact we are the executive branch of the government of Belize."
"We also have the issues of, it's not nice to say or think about, but it's possible that public officers will start to engage in activities that are considered as fraud and so on and embezzlement and stealing and so on so that's the reality of the situation especially for those who have in the revenue departments and so on. It's more far reaching that is being discussed right now and these are some of the things that we have been experiencing already that public officers are pretty much slowing down in their productivity just with the thought of the 10% being removed from their salaries."
Tomorrow, the unions are expected to participate in an information day and candlelight vigil.
