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7news was in Belmopan for their protest:..

Daniel Ortiz reporting
Teachers and Staff members from the University of Belize gathered under tent near the entrance of the campus. Instead of reporting to their different departments, they decided to make a public statement of discontent they currently have with the university's transparency and accountability mechanisms.

They staged a public meeting type setup, in which speeches were made for the preservation of the national university.

Allison Crawford - President, UBFCA
"You all should be ready to give up a day for a cause. We are at the university level and we are the ones to set the example to this country."

According to the President of the UB Faculty and Staff Association, it centers around an audit report which makes certain allegations of financial irregularities within official posts, and within the board itself.

Allison Crawford - President, UBFCA "Based on the results of an auditing that was done in the human resource and finance and budget department some irregularities were shown. We want those irregularities to be address."

The President says that the board is compromised as arbiter in this particular situation:

Allison Crawford - President, UBFCA
"In that audit it shows irregularities with some board members and UB officials and I being a member of the board had brought out some of these concerns and I express at the board level that the board should not be dealing with this matter. This is a managerial matter; it should be dealt with the way all faculty members and staff in the university. If an investigation is carried out and after the result, usually sanction is given - that person should go on suspension with half pay. It doesn't mean that the person is guilty. It's just an investigation. A discipline is setup and then base on that result then that person will be sanctioned. If the sanction is not please satisfactory to the individual then that individual has the right to appeal to the board. How could you be the investigator then you will also be the judge? That is not ethical at all at the board level. Also we mentioned that board members were involved. Obviously board will want to cover up for those members, again it's not ethical for the board to be dealing with this investigation."

Daniel Ortiz
"Can you tell us a little bit about what irregularities there are without getting into the specifics because it's an internal matter?"

Allison Crawford - President, UBFCA
"One of them had to do with the increase of an official salary within one year by over ten thousand dollars. There were also changes in the contract of that same individual from contractual to a permanent appointment to the post."

And because they feel no one in higher authority is paying this issue any mind, the faculty and staff have taken up the fight:

Allison Crawford - President, UBFCA
"Today is to make the public aware because we are not getting the response that we want or need of what is happening at this university. We are here to protect this university because if these issues are not dealt with properly these same irregularities will continue. Mostly teachers and some staff are also out here but if you could look at the window there you see them in red. They want to be here, some of them are afraid because that is the HR office over there and of course they figured they are being watched and so forth. they really feel intimidated. Monday is a total sit out for all campuses. We cannot release our plan to the public at this time but we have other plans in place that we will go through if we are not getting the response."

Daniel Ortiz
"What is that response?"

Allison Crawford - President, UBFCA
"All we want is an independent commission at this time to deal with the audit report."

After the teachers rallied together, they staged a small march around the campus to display their commitment to the other staff members who abstained for fear of victimization.

A statement from The Board of Directors today says that the University of Belize "intends to respond to all the allegations and claims being made against the Board of Trustees of University of Belize."

It adds that, "We will not be hasty in our response to these very spurious and defamatory allegations."

It concludes by assuring the media and the public that they will be hearing in full from the Board of Trustees.