2 days ago
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Minister of Public Service, Henry Charles Usher, is pushing back against concerns raised by the Public Service Union over the government’s rollout of a biometric system for public officers, describing the issue as being overblown. The response comes after PSU President Dean Flowers voiced strong objections to the initiative, warning that the system would effectively digitize the entire professional life of public officers and raise serious questions about data security, third-party management, and transparency. Flowers also indicated that the union has formally written to the Financial Secretary under the Freedom of Information Act seeking details on the contract and implementation of the system, warning that legal action could follow if those requests are not addressed. But Minister Usher says the move is simply part of the government’s modernization efforts within the public service. Usher explained that the introduction of biometric technology is intended to replace outdated manual logbooks with a more efficient and accurate digital system for tracking attendance and administrative records.
Henry Charles Usher, Minister of Public Service: “I mean, it’s an exaggeration of what is happening. What is going on is that for attendance purposes, persons walking into the building, if you walk into the Treasury building and you’re an employee there you have to use your fingerprint to get in. It just shows when you arrive, when you leave. So it was for those purposes that those devices were put into government offices. So it’s an attendance record. In the past, it used to be in a logbook. We’re moving towards more the use of technology and it’s better able to monitor the public officers when they arrive and when they leave. So it’s not about biometrics, it’s more about attendance and leaving. You have to remember that whenever we sign on to any type of online platform, our information is put out there. I’m sure you have Facebook and Instagram and everything else that information is freely shared by those platforms. We don’t even know that those platforms share that information, but we see it when it comes to the algorithms. We see it when it comes to marketing and certain products are pushed towards persons. Why? Because they monitor the websites or the Instagram posts that that person could look at. So information in the digital world is out there. You are absolutely right. The information that is being collected in terms of arrivals, leaving, attendance register, that information has to be confidential, it has to be protected. And that is why the company that is utilizing that manages that has to sign a confidentiality agreement with the Government Belize to protect that information.”
Minister Usher also addressed concerns about privacy and policy, noting that the transition does not infringe on the rights of public officers and remains in line with established administrative frameworks.
Henry Charles Usher, Minister of Public Service: “In the public service regulations it does speak about digital attendance records. So it’s not a matter of having to give an additional consent, but when we come up with a public officer, you do know that your attendance will be tracked either in a manual form or in a digital form. The Treasury Department, I’m not sure which company they are using, they implemented that system on their own but we’re trying to centralize that system using a platform that the government of Belize utilizes.”
Reporter: How do you respond to Dean Flowers when he says that the Union was not consulted on the gathering of the biometric data from the public officers for a new system being installed?
Henry Charles Usher, Minister of Public Service: “I think that the PSU kind of missed that one at Treasury. I agree that when Treasury implemented that at the Eleanor Hall building not even public service knew about it to be honest with you, but we found out about it and I believe that it’s the right way forward. You know it’s easier to have this attendance register being monitored and being effective digitally but we have to centralize it. So yes, we do have to make sure that we involve the union in these discussions but I do think that both of us missed it when it happened at Treasury.”
The issue has sparked growing debate between the government and the PSU, with union leaders maintaining that greater consultation and clarity are needed before full implementation.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Public Service says it remains committed to engaging stakeholders, even as it continues efforts to modernize operations across the public sector.
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