It was fire and brimstone at the offices of the Belize Times on Friday, August 10th as five of seven employees received their walking papers. Said Musa himself made his way to the offices of the Belize Times and presented the employees with checks and told they were fired. As simple as that! In the most ruthless and callous manner, Said gave it to those who have been most loyal to the People’s United Party.
When the employees looked at the checks however, there was much to be desired and the cursing began in the office. All manner of choice bad words were hurled at Musa. So great was the disturbance at the offices of the Times that Francis Fonseca had to come downstairs to try and quell the uproar. But tried as he did, he was unable to. From the reports that we received, he was even called an ‘undercover crackhead’ when he attempted to intervene on behalf of Musa. The women at the Times simply would not have any of the abuse at the hands of the past leader or the current leader of the PUP.
Even though they had vented their great frustration, it was to no avail as the checks were unchanged. Now, those fired have a great grievance with the PUP. Musa gave them less than chicken feed as severance. Doreth Bevans, who is considered an institution at the Times after serving 43 years at the newspaper, was due $29,700 dollars as her severance ,but instead received a paltry $5,970. Fay Castillo, who has been there for 17 years, was due $16,675.00, but she too received just over five thousand dollars. And the disrespect went across the board. Even Natalie, the person who cleaned the office, was not spared, but she minced no words when she appeared on Channel 7 News stating: “All I want to say is that the PUP no have no come back fi come back! If that is the way they are treating their own people because I have two children to feed and I am not happy today. I explained to Mr. Musa that I need the job. I explained to Mr. Francis Fonseca that I need the job.”
But the crook of the matter is not only that the women were terminated and not compensated for their years of service. They are peeved because the justification that they are being given for the paltry sum received was because of a pension fund, which had been established during the George Price era and which was shared among the workers back in 2008. The money had accumulated up to 66 thousand dollars, and in 2008, that money was to have been shared among the staff. It was shared, however like most things that Musa is involved with, the women say it does not add up. When they added the total that was disbursed to them, it amounted to just over 30 thousand leaving a balance that is unaccounted for.
Poor George Price must be turning in his grave to see how the PUP’s most loyal are being treated. The pension funds were to have been given to the staff however, when Musa got his hands on it, all of the money was not accounted for. Adding insult to injury is the fact that now the former PUP party leader is claiming that the pension fund that was shared out in 2008 formed part of the women’s severance. He added that he has been taking care of them and that he was simply broke and could do so no more. But even if the pension money made part of what is due, it still does not add up to what the women rightfully deserve.
In an effort to try to get some justice outside of the slimy and grimy party, the women have taken their concerns to the Labor Department. They say if they are unable to get satisfaction through this medium, they will seek legal recourses.
Imagine, this is how the PUP hierarchy treats the loyal soldiers of their party. Imagine what kind of treatment the people of this country have received and will receive if ever they were to gain office again.
PUP again? NEVER!!!
As for the Times, it is good riddance to old garbage. The oldest filth paper is done for and they have closed its doors. Nobody will miss it. The great lies and downright slop that was printed in that paper should never have been allowed for so long. Even Francis Fonseca admitted that the paper was a waste unable to carry its own weight.
