Email

Print

If your garbage wasn’t picked up this morning, that is because instead of collecting garbage – Belize Waste Control workers were picketing Mayor Zenaida Moya’s office on North Front Street. That’s right – Waste Control and City Council are again at odds over money. Waste Control says it hasn’t been paid in 7 weeks and more than that – the last payment in mid December was made with a bounced check. 7NEWS was at City Hall and here are both sides of the story.

Windell Russell, Waste Control Employee
“Man di struggle because out yah hard right now. We need wi money Zenaida. Give we wi money.”

That was the message to Mayor Zenaida Moya from the roughly 25 Waste Control employees who – with placards in their hands and shouting chants - circled her office at City Hall this morning.

Alpan Reyes, Waste Control Employee
“Zenaida di give we bounce check so we just want her to know we want a real check and the boss can’t pay us if she doesn’t pay him. So we are just out here to make her know that she should send something that really will benefit us; we want our money.”

Worker #2,
“We can’t feed our children rubber, we need something to get the house going. Without any money, I don’t know what the boss will do – we leave garbage all around the place.”

Windell Russell, Waste Control Employee
“We don’t have any problem with Ms. Zenaida but the company which she is working under, that company doesn’t want to pay and we are taking a licking and she knows we are taking a licking. We need fi wi money, that is all we have to say. We need fi we money.”

Jason Jones, Waste Control Employee
“The trucks need fuels, the trucks need tires and then we have kids to send to school. School just opened and for about seven weeks now she owes the boss and if she hasn’t paid the boss, we can’t get paid. So if she comes up and pay the boss, the city will get clean and the city will get done because the garbage won’t get picked up if she doesn’t pay the boss. I guarantee you that the city will be in a mess.”

The check is this one from the council to Waste Control for $31,000. Waste Control’s Manager George Lamb says when they went to cash it in December – they were turned back by the bank.

George Lamb, Manager -Waste Control
“We have a seven week situation where we haven’t received payment. There is a check but we’re very uncomfortable with that check. I don’t know, it appears to be a practice but that check doesn’t hold up at the bank.”

Keith Swift,
So you’re saying Belize Waste Control was given a bounced check by the City Council?

George Lamb,
“We are unable to clear the check; let’s put it that way.”

And the Council’s Finance Director Dwain Davis says that is because the council didn’t have enough money in its account at the time.

Dwain Davis, Director of Financial Services
“To extent yes, they are right. They did take that check to the bank, the bank asked them to hold it. I am now telling to take it back to the bank.”

Rowland Parks, Amandala Newspaper
“The question then would be now why did you write a check if you knew the funds were not in the bank?”

Dwain Davis,
“Well not exactly, the check was handed out based on certain things happening. It just happened that those things did not happen as we had planned, that is why we ran into problems them. When I gave them the check, we had already talked to the people who should have paid this money but that didn’t happen.”

Keith Swift,
You didn’t tell them they cannot cash the check?

Dwain Davis,
“By the time we spoke to them, they had already gone to the bank.”

Keith Swift,
You don’t think that’s irregular to have given them a check not knowing if enough money was going to be in the account?

Dwain Davis,
“Well we were pretty certain that we were going to get this money.”

They didn’t then but Davis says they do now.

Dwain Davis,
“Well the council does have a cash flow problem, that I will be very frank to you about, but as I said that this coming month we should be over that. This is now our peak season for revenue collection, going right up to May. So this month we should be over whatever problems we were facing.

Currently we owe Waste Control for four weeks of payment. That is from about the 8th of December up to last weekend and that works out to about $137,000; that is what we currently owe them. We are expecting to try and clear up these arrears this motnh.”

This morning’s protest was peaceful – with the exception of this flare-up with police. City Councillor Phillip Wlloughby was a spectator to the back and forth and admitted there was little he knew or could do.

Keith Swift,
They say they haven’t been paid for seven weeks, as a city councillor are you aware of that?

Phillip Willoughby, City Councillor
“I haven’t seen the financials since December to say what or has not been done but again when we meet tomorrow all of this will be worked out between, I think if we can get a meeting convened between Belize Waste Control and the Council.”

Jules Vasquez,
We’re facing the possibility that our city will be again smothered in filth if they don’t pick up the garbage if you all don’t pay them. You are viewing this almost as a tourist, like an outsider; this is your responsibility; you’re elected to make sure this city is run properly. I don’t want to hear that you don’t know and you didn’t check, you have to know, you are accountable and I am saying are you all are going to effectively avert a garbage crises in this city?

Phillip Willoughby,
“Again Jules in the brief conversation I had with Mr. Griffith, he gave his, the only thing a man has is his word, and he gave me his word that they will still be collecting garbage.”

Jules Vasquez,
How soon before you all give up and stop picking up garbage?

George Lamb,
“That all depends on a response from the Council, whether it is immediate or if the council give us an immediate response then I can guarantee the citizens of Belize that Belize Waste Control will be in full swing. We are out there, there are trucks out there right now as we speak collecting the garbage and we are doing the best we could with the little resource.”

Jules Vasquez,
Sir how much of this is about you all playing hard ball because you all want a ten year contract extension?

George Lamb,
“It has nothing to do with that Jules. Let me ask you a question: could you work for your employer for seven weeks and not get paid? That’s difficult, we have been patient. That is more than being patient with the council so it has nothing to do with extension, it has to do with us meeting our payment now.”

And with Waste Control clearly ready to shake Mayor Moya’s cage, it’s left to be seen if the latest payments will satisfy the waste disposal company or if sights like this will become more common.

When we checked with waste control this afternoon – they still hadn’t cashed the check for $31,164.30.

For some perspective, the City Council claims it is in arrears with, BML – the company that cleans the streets and owes them for 5 weeks. It is also worth noting that under the David Fonseca run City Council, the City Council was in arrears with Belize Waste Control for 13 weeks. According to Davis, those arrears were covered by the new council when it took office.