NTCUB President “We are Facing a Dictatorship”

Luke Martinez, the President of the National Trade Union Congress of Belize, was also present at today’s FECTAB press conference. He was merely there as an invited guest and observer. He spoke with reporters following the press conference. Here is what he had to say on the matter.

 

Luke Martinez, President, NTUCB

“We are still waiting for the prime minister to answer our questions that we sent him and pressing for him to give us a reasonable response. He sent us a page of nothing a few weeks ago. We are waiting to get around the table with him and his team to meaningfully discuss this issue. For NTUCB this is beyond those who are securing their investment. We are securing our democracy. We are ensuring to secure taxpayers’ dollars. So, for us it is a tax issue as well as a very serious governance issue. During COVID the government took over eighty million dollars. Now we have an acquisition that is about to happen. We hope it doesn’t happen, which will continue to consolidate what everybody is saying, we are facing a dictatorship. And so, as the vanguard of democracy, we have to ensure we follow this issue and that it works out for Belizeans.”

 

Reporter

“Does this MSC prospect validate the position of the NTUCB that the compulsory acquisition is not for a public purpose?”

 

Luke Martinez

“We have been saying that from the beginning, prove to us that it is a public purpose acquisition. Prove that to us. We want the prime minister and his technical team to prove that to the Belizean people, prove that to the investors.”