And while there was support on both sides of the house for the new
DFC, the debate went along party lines for the Motion on Belize City Control
of Garbage and Use of Dumpsite bylaws. The idea behind the motion is to allow
the City Council to charge businesses an annual fee to dispose of their garbage.
The money will be collected by the Council and passed through to the collector
which is Belize Waste Control. It should come into effect on February first
and it is a way to make sure that the garbage situation clears up. But, on the
other hand business owners will also argue that it is punitive – and particularly
irksome when the money is paid into a council which has shown less then stellar
management skills. And that’s the line that the opposition took today
in a lively debate. Here are both sides of the issue.
Hon. Johnny Briceno,
“I think it is incredulous that the Belize City Council at the time
when they are coming to the end of their term, that they are looking to impose
more taxes on the residents of Belize City because basically what this is doing
Mr. Speaker is imposing taxes on all the businesses. When you look at the schedule,
they even go all the way to starting from mom and pop business which I guess
must be when you just open a little window in your house if you want to sell
panades or try to sell a little idea or whatever it is. They are saying now
that these small businesses have to pay $120 a year for garbage disposal. Then
the micro-business $840 per year. Small businesses would have to pay $1,170
per year. A medium business will have to pay 
$4,344 in new taxes. Large businesses
will have to pay $8,568 and industrial customers will have to pay $15,960 and
that is only for picking up the garbage.”
Hon. Patrick Faber, Minister of Education
“It is understood that businesses have to pay for the collection of
their garbage. That is understood so as it is right now, as I understand it,
what is the case is that there is a contract with the Belize Waste Control that
gives them the exclusive right to collect this commercial garbage but that private
businesses must pay them directly. The situation is that some private businesses,
however small they are, are taking matters into their own hands and are not
paying the monies, are not choosing to use Belize Waste Control and are going
contrary to the law. They are using different people and it is creating a problem
Mr. Speaker because they are trying to get rid of their garbage in anyway.”
Hon. Francis Fonseca, Freetown Area Rep.
“Those of us who live in Belize City today know that the Belize City 
Council and indeed this government has absolutely no standing to bring such
a motion to this House. Look at what is happening in Belize City today. Look
at what is happening in Belize City today, for them to come now to the residents
of Belize City, after they have failed to clean the streets, the streets are
in the worse conditions they have been in for many many years. After they have
failed to pick up the garbage, a basic responsibility of the Belize City Council;
picking up the garbage is no science.
Picking up the garbage, fixing the streets, keeping the drains clean –
those basic duties and responsibilities they have failed miserably to perform
for the residents of Belize City. So they have absolutely no standing to come
to the residents of Belize City now and say we are going to impose these fees
on you if you want us to pick up garbage. They have to do it the other way around:
get their act together, have a plan in place, show the people that they are
serious about doing their work and then come and sit down with the people and
say we are doing our work, we have a plan, and now we can impose some fees.
We need you to do your part.”
Hon. Dean Barrow,
“You talk about the difficulties that the UDP City Council encountered,
difficulties caused by the fact that you left something like a $10 million debt.
Difficulties caused by the fact that your Mayor, the first cousin of the one
who is making all these pious pronouncements, whose being so mealy mouthed,
stole – stole money from the residents of Belize City. You want to talk
about coming back and asking people to vote for your City Council candidates?
What you think? That people have developed some sort of collective amnesia?
The business houses already have to pay for the collection of the commercial
garbage. It is just that a number of them are shirking their responsibility
and failing to comply with the law. So all this does is to put on a proper footing,
the fees that they already are supposed to be paying and this goes together
with the earlier Act that we passed to amend the Trade Licensing law in order
to provide for the City Council to be able to enforce this collection because
if these people don’t pay, they will have their trade license suspended.”
That motion was passed through all three readings today and should
come into effect on February first.
Email
Print