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The Public Service Union of Belize is throwing its full support behind Government’s decision to halt transfers within the public service for one year, describing the move as both timely and necessary. This follows the issuance of Circular Memorandum from the Ministry of the Public Service, which effectively extends tours of duty for public officers and suspends all transfers involving a change of jurisdiction for 2026. In a press release issued today, the PSU confirmed its endorsement of the measure, noting that transfers over the years have not only disrupted families, but have also cost taxpayers millions of dollars in allowances and reduced productivity. Love News understands that the decision is also part of broader government austerity measures, as authorities brace for the impact of rising global fuel prices and the potential loss of revenue should the government be required to absorb increased fuel costs locally.
Dean Flowers, President, PSU: “The Public Service Union gave its full support for that initiative. Our support is grounded in the following. One, for those families who are together they get to stay together. This country, the social fabric of this country has broken down because the family has been torn apart and a lot of public servant’s families have been torn apart by these transfers. And so I am pleased that for one additional year we won’t see families being torn apart and young men and women being separated from their mothers and fathers who in several cases may be public officers but being posted in two separate jurisdictions with the full knowledge and consent of the Chief Executive Officers. Now our second basis for this support is of course economic, financial. We tried to show them that the tax payers of this country were paying millions upon millions of dollars. There’s a recent report that came out which shows that housing, rental allowance it is demonstrating that that is costing tax payers in excess of $10 million dollars a year in rental allowance alone and we have been saying this to the Government of Belize since 2021 when I took over the presidency because we were in austerity.”
PSU President Dean Flowers explained that the union’s support is grounded in long-standing recommendations it has made to government, particularly in the aftermath of COVID-19, where cost-saving measures became critical to maintaining fiscal stability. In its release, the union emphasized that the suspension of transfers will reduce unnecessary relocation expenses, including transfer grants, rental, commuting, and hardship allowances, while also improving stability across the public service. However, the PSU is also urging caution in the implementation of the policy. Flowers says that while transfers are being paused, public officers who remain outside of their home jurisdictions must continue to receive all applicable allowances, including housing and transfer-related benefits, to avoid undue hardship.
Dean Flowers, President, PSU: “From 2021 to now we would have saved the Belizean people around $40 to $50 million dollars because rental allowance is costing us around $10 million dollars. A little over $10 million dollars a year. Now had we revisited or not engaged in these mass transfers as we do annually we would have been saving $10 million dollars minimum per year for the last four years. And so unfortunately we did not do that and this year we won’t do that either because clearly where the rental allowance is concerned that has to continue because these persons who are outside of their jurisdiction will continue to remain outside of their jurisdiction or their home station as we refer to it in the public service for another year. So we won’t see any savings there but we can report that we will see savings here transfer grants is concerned because there will be no transfer grants or little or no transfer grants paid and transfer grants is $1,200 per public officer. So of the seven thousand or so public officers proper in public service and when you add the police officers, the BDF that one too could grow to perhaps I don’t know three, four, five a thousand persons. So in essence the government of Belize if it is that they apply this staving off of transfers across public service to include the security forces they may very well be saving in excess of $5 million dollars.”
The union is now calling on Chief Executive Officers and finance officers across ministries to ensure that these payments continue uninterrupted, while also encouraging proper workforce planning during the one-year period.
English (US) ·