7 News Belize

PUP Can't Even Pay Social Security
posted (October 6, 2011)
Moving now to political news - tensions are high in the PUP tonight in advance of the party's national executive tomorrow. The meeting is expected to be tense as there are reports of increasing discontent with Briceno within certain factions of the PUP. It is also expected to be tense because discussion is sure to include the state of the party's finances.

According to reliable reports, the party is millions of dollars in debt - and needs millions more to finance municipal elections in 2012 and general elections, presumably in 2013.

And right now -as they say in the street - things dread. How dread? Well 7news has seen internal communication which confirms that that the party can't even pay the social security contribution for its workers.

According to our reports, that party is two months in arrears - which is about 1,500.00 dollars not including interest which accrues weekly.

Even though the matter was addressed internally as urgent a week ago - according to our information, those payments still have not been made - and September's payments are coming due at the middle of this month.

It's a relatively small issue, but symptomatic of deeper money problems within the party which led to the Party Leader's outburst on Saturday, calling on the party's millionaires to bring in money "from their foreign bank accounts to help the party fight the UDP." Regarding the social security situation, we see that many of the mails are addressed to the Chairman of the Party Henry Charles Usher asking for his attention on the matter . He advises the Secretary General, quote, "Please address as a matter of priority. We must make our SSB payments."

We today asked Usher to confirm or deny rumours that he is considering resigning. He told us that he will not be resigning but when asked if such an act was within his contemplation, he told us quote, "right now everything is within my contemplation" but added that, quote, "at this time I don't foresee that happening."

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