The government and the NTUCB are also at odds over the future of the Public Utilities Commission. Prime Minister John Briceño says the PUC is an autonomous body governed by law, leaving government unable to support the union’s request for restructuring. But NTUCB President Ella Waight argues that the commission cannot be considered truly independent when government appoints its members. The union says it will continue pressing for the PUC to be restructured.
Ella Waight
Ella Waight, President, NTUCB
“He stated what the law indicates and we understood that. We understood that from the very beginning. But who are the persons that can change the law to make it better, to make it inclusive of the workers’ representative and the other social partners, it is the government. So, there can be a change. For this one with the PUC we would have hoped there would have been a conversation to begin that process, for us to share with them why we feel necessary to have majority control of the PUC in the hands of Belizeans, not the government. But again his letter states that it is an autonomous institution. It is not, in our view it is simply a government controlled institution where the prime minister appoints persons on the PUC. We want and we think it is very important if this government says they are all about good governance that we ensure that is the way we move forward, that we have a PUC that includes and is controlled and it is most important that those persons come from the public and citizens of this country and it will come through the four social partners we have listed.”
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