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But today the Minister said that they are working tirelessly to resolve it. He says it wasn't something created under this administration, and they have not been ignoring the concerns. They're hoping to resolve it soon.

Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education
"It's a frustrating issue and as I have repeatedly said to the BNTU, everyone at the Ministry of Education, in fact everyone in the government of Belize is committed to resolving this matter. We don't get credit for it but this is a matter that goes back to 2018. We, our government, our Ministry of Education, working along with the treasury department and the accountant general, has brought back all of that from 2018 up to 2023 so what we're dealing with now is 2023 and the current year, trying to deal with those issues. Now, we've almost resolved everything for 2023 so there are other issues in terms of 2024 but we are working tirelessly, everyone is working, we're having regular meetings with them to discuss this matter. So we're trying to address and resolve this matter as quickly as possible. Obviously we know teachers want and deserve their increments, their allowances, so everybody is focused on getting it accomplished, we certainly hope that it will be resolved at the earliest possible time."

Reporter:
"They asked to have it paid tax free, is this a feasible option?"

Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education
"Yeah I don't know, I don't want to speak on that because that's something I would have to discuss with the Ministry of Finance they're the ones that would have to make that decision. But I'm certainly willing to have that conversation with the Ministry of Finance."

In its release yesterday, the BNTU says, quote, "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! We will no longer continue to beg for what is rightfully owed to our teachers...MoE and Managers, the ball is in your court but please note that our play has already been drawn up." end quote.