NeoPeople Pilot Moves Forward Despite PSU Objections

Is the government’s new employee management system putting public officers’ personal information at risk? That concern has prompted the Public Service Union to discourage its members from participating in the NeoPeople Pilot Program, claiming the ministry launched it without the union’s consent. But Public Service Minister Henry Charles Usher says several officers are already taking part, and he insists protecting their data remains a top priority.

 

Henry Charles Usher, Minister of Public Service

“We have had discussions with the Public Service Union, back and forth in terms of communication. When it comes to this rollout, as we have said over the past years, modernization of the public service is a key component of plan Belize and that is something we have to continue to do. That includes the digitization process, making sure the files are digitized and I can tell you that everyone who has participated in this pilot project and it is a voluntary pilot project for now. You don’t have to respond if you don’t want as a public officer, but those who have responded are very happy with the system. They are saying onboarding is easy. They are happy that they are able to access their files, see their files, being able to apply for certain things in a much easier way. This is the way things are going. We have to be able to keep up and the longer it takes for us to do it, the less efficient the service will be.”

 

Paul Lopez

“What about concerns that the impact assessment that was conducted was never forwarded to PSU for them to review.”

 

Henry Charles Usher

“As I said we are in discussion looking at digital impact assessments, looking at the concerns they have, and I recognize the concerns they have and we are going to work out everything with them. We have prepared a response to the letter they have written and we will share that with the media.”

 

Public Service Minister Dodges NeoPeople Ownership Question

 

The controversy surrounding NeoPeople now goes beyond concerns about data privacy. The Public Service Union wants to know who owns the company providing the software to the Government of Belize and whether a sitting government official held a stake in that company when the contract was signed. PSU President Dean Flowers has formally requested answers from the Ministry of Public Service under the Freedom of Information Act. Today, we put the ownership question directly to Minister Henry Charles Usher, but his response stopped short of providing a clear answer.

 

Henry Charles Usher, Minister of Public Service

“In this case we are protecting with all of the different protections, firewalls can be put in place to make sure that information remains confidential.”

 

Paul Lopez

“Who are the proprietors of this company. And was there a sitting official in place at the time when this agreement was signed with NeoPeople?”

 

Henry Charles Usher

“You would have to check with e-Data.”

 

Paul Lopez

To find out who the proprietors are?”

 

Henry Charles Usher

“You would have to check with them.”

 

Paul Lopez

“But how would you not know as minister? You are the minister of public service. Your ministry is entering business with them.”

 

Henry Charles Usher

You can speak with them.”

 

Paul Lopez

“You are the minister of public service. You have a duty to inform the public of these things, especially when your ministry, a public ministry, is entering into an agreement.”

 

Henry Charles Usher

“So, the person signing on behalf of e-Data was Mr. Juan Carlos Namis. You can speak with him about any other questions you have about his company.

Paul Lopez

“So, there was not a sitting minister, a sitting official with interest in this company any at all when this contract was signed?”

 

Henry Charles Usher

“Please ask Mr. Juan Carlos Namis any of those questions. He was the one who signed on behalf of E-Data.”

 

The Public Service Union says it has yet to receive a response to its FOIA request after five months.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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