With burning tires and fireworks, health personnel demand payment of salaries on Suyapa Boulevard

Health and administrative employees of the Escuela Hospital blocked Suyapa Boulevard in Tegucigalpa on Thursday morning by burning tires and setting off fireworks to demand payment of salaries that have been overdue for several months.

“The government is doing too much, we are in debt, the kids have to pay for their schooling and the grocery store is not giving credit anymore,” said a nurse.

The protest, which is taking place near the Escuela Hospital, is attended by administrative and medical staff, nurses and pharmacists.

“People have their needs, they have to pay bills, they have to pay for electricity, they have to pay for water, they have to pay for credit cards. There are many families involved. So I think that in these situations, well, there needs to be more planning,” said Dr. John Alvarado.

For her part, doctor and deputy Suyapa Figueroa said she agreed with the claim of the health personnel who do not know what else to do due to the lack of money due to non-payment by the Health Department.

“I believe that the Ministry of Health had all the time necessary to resolve the administrative problems of the transfer of the hospital. I believe that there are no excuses for not paying the employees of the Ministry of Health and specifically of this hospital,” he said, affirming that his colleagues have not been paid for four months.

In response to protests by health personnel demanding late payments, Health Secretary Carla Paredes explained on the Hoy Mismo news program that the effectiveness of payments does not depend solely on the Ministry of Health (Sesal), but also on three additional institutions.

According to Paredes, “the corresponding payment has been made up to the month of September through the Central Bank of Honduras (BCH), and the October payrolls will be managed through the Ministry of Finance (Sefin).”

He added that “in decades they have had thousands of problems, they never went out to the streets to do that, it seems like they live on the streets, but that’s fine, we live in a democracy.”

According to Paredes, “there are opportunists” in a movement that “have a personal agenda,” and he also condemned the “deadly silence” that has lasted 14 years in Honduras, in reference to the governments of the National Party.

Health personnel argue that they owe doctors two months’ pay and nurses and other administrative staff six months’ pay, and that if there is no response, the assemblies will be held progressively.

Meanwhile, Sesal has committed to paying starting October 31, but is asking for patience from health workers.

Due to the protest by health personnel, there will be no care at the Escuela Hospital for the time being, except in critical and emergency areas