Defence Ministry Denies Salary Cuts for BDF Soldiers

The Ministry of National Defence and Border Security says that, contrary to reports in the media, salaries for Belize Defence Force Soldiers have not been cut. The Ministry issued a statement responding to the reports, saying that they had created a false impression that a salary reduction was in effect. The Ministry further explained that a recent salary adjustment exercise was taken to align all BDF salaries, increments, and promotions with the approved 2019 pay scale, following a review with the Ministry of Finance and the Treasury Department. The Ministry clarified that not all BDF members were affected by the previous error, and no soldier will be asked to repay any overpaid amount. The adjustment simply corrects cases where some soldiers were on the wrong points of the pay scale. Minister Oscar Mira spoke on the matter with us previously, noting that most of the affected personnel were non-commissioner officers.

Oscar Mira, Minister of National Defense and Border Security: “There were some so it’s not all of the BDF but there were some BDF soldiers who were put on the wrong salary scale. It wasn’t underpaid, they were being overpaid. The previous administration did not correct it and just left it like that and now we’re noticing that there are some soldiers and it mostly was the non commissioned officers so the privates, the lance corporals, corporals and sergeants and some staff sergeants who were being overpaid. Now we had to correct it at some point in time. When we got into government we did a big exercise to study and to see who all were affected and by how much. That was being done and every time we tried to rectify it something came up and it is a very complex exercise to do. When I got appointed as the Minister of National Defense and Border Security I made a priority and I called my CEO and said listen this needs to be corrected. But in order for us to correct this let us lobby Cabinet, let us ask Cabinet to please have the soldiers not pay back whatever extra salaries they had gotten. Government and Cabinet had agreed and said listen it wasn’t the soldier’s fault, this was a fault done by the Ministry of Finance we will correct it and in doing so we will allow whatever extra these soldiers got to be done as an ex gratia payment. So we lobbied Cabinet, Cabinet agreed. In August when their new salary is deposited they will see that all of those that had been being overpaid will go back to the salary that they should be on. It should not affect any calculations on your benefits if you retire or for your retirement purposes. So that isn’t supposed to be affected.” 

The ministry noted that as of May 1, 2024, all BDF members began receiving two new allowances: the Jungle and Maritime Allowance and the Bush Allowance. Additionally, in July 2025, every member received a one-time retroactive payment of $2,250 to cover these backdated allowances, which will continue to be paid monthly. The Ministry described the salary adjustment as a necessary and responsible administrative measure to ensure fairness and accuracy. It also stated that future improvements to the terms and conditions for BDF members are being planned and will be announced soon