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Yesterday we told you about the protest held on the stairs of the National Assembly by the Association of Beneficiaries and Retired Public Officers. They've been owed some 8 million dollars for the last 3 decades, and now they're demanding that the Public Service Workers Trust be dissolved and the money be distributed among them.

They also held a protest one year ago, but nothing came out of that. This year, the PM promised them that he would take charge of the process and would ensure it reaches a resolution. In a release, the ABRPO said they will be submitting their draft proposals for terminating the fund, enumerating the beneficiaries, and halting current projects being financed by the trust. They expect to meet with the PM in two weeks.

And the PM also promised them to launch investigations into the allegation of misappropriation of the funds by the PSWT leadership. ABRPO President, Hubert Enriquez, claimed that a recent audit stated that over $100,000 in loans for the union members had been written off.

We reached out to the PSWT for comment, and they said they categorically reject the accusation and that the trust is audited annually by external auditors. All audits are available on the PSWT website.

The PSWT's release says that they had undertaken a loan scheme in 2015, which increased the fund by 21%. These loans were provided to the PSU and the Belize Police Association, in addition to hundreds of other public officers. The PSWT says the PSU repaid the loans in full, and that the BPA was consistently meeting its loan obligations up until the loan became non-performing.

The PSWT says it is their understanding that the funds are available and being held in an account, and they are making efforts to recover the funds while avoiding litigation, which would be costly. However, they say that based on the 2022 audit, the non-performing loans represented a small part of the total loan portfolio.