So, while the teachers and the Government rift continues to open, some are especially offended by comments made by Foreign Affairs Ministry. He granted an interview over the weekend, and when he was asked for his perspective on the teachers strike - here's what he said:
Hon. Wilfred Elrington, Minister of Foreign Affairs
"Union leaders are really and truly seemed to have form the view that neither the UDP nor the PUP are in fact doing what they think should be done and that they are the saviors of the country. That is not the role of a labor union. A labor has interest in looking after its constituents; the teachers. In this case teachers union should be looking after the teachers interest and those interest would include making sure that their salaries are paid and that kind of thing. But it is not my understanding that they have the remit really to take on all the issues of the country and I don't even know whether they have the wisdom or the ability or the competence to deal with those issues."
Of course, the teachers haven't taken kindly to that, and we understand that some teachers have resolved to support an extension of the strike just because of Elrington's comments. We asked the BNTU President about it today:
Luke Palacio, National President - BNTU
"I believe that Minister Elrington is being his usual self - typical of persons in government who believe that they are all knowledgeable, because that statement show how arrogant these people in government are. Why do you have teachers and you ask teachers to teach Belizean history, you ask teachers to teach about how we are govern, you ask teachers to teach about the ministerial system of government and now you are going to say that the teachers don't have the wisdom to deal with matters of governance. But more importantly than that for us, the minister basically continues just like his government has been doing, trying to insult the teachers of this nation and it is so unfortunate that our country has come to that stage."
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