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Haiti gov’t begins back pay plan to veterans
Under pressure from the U.N., Haitian officials set up a panel almost two months ago to figure out how to get the armed men out of the bases. Leaders of the rogue army say they won’t leave until they are appointed to an interim military before Martelly officially reinstates the force.
One of the rogue group’s leaders, former Sgt. Larose Aubin, said by telephone that the band wouldn’t participate because the government broke its promise to give them senior positions in an interim security force.
“We are not going to take part in this,” Aubin said.
The government for years has struggled to compensate the several thousand veterans who served in the armed force. An estimated 7,500 soldiers were dismissed, and they have argued they are entitled to millions of dollars in pension and lost wages.
“They have to compensate us immediately,” Remy Jerome, 44, a five-year veteran who carried an ID card that crinkled at the edges, said as he waited to register for his compensation. “We were serving the nation.”
Heeding a call from the Interior Ministry, hundreds of veterans showed up Wednesday with their old ID cards to collect their pay at a former military academy in Haiti’s capital. They will each receive from US$1,625 to US$1,750, depending on their years of service and rank, Delva said.
Interior Minister Thierry Mayard-Paul told reporters that the government has about US$2.65 million at its disposal for the compensation.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
