2 months ago, 7News told you about the attempt by the Belize Waste Control to get Belize City Mayor, Darrell Bradley jailed for contempt of court. It's because of an outstanding 2.3 Million dollar arbitration award that the City Council owes to Belize Waste Control.
Bradley was the attorney for the then City Council administration and last year, the court ordered the Council to pay it. They didn't and so Waste Control's Attorney Fred Lumor took the Mayor to the Supreme Court to ask Justice Michelle Arana to cite him for contempt. If the Court ruled in his favor, Mayor Bradley would be committed to jail.
He delayed that warrant's proceedings by asking the court for more time to properly put on record City Hall's financial position. The matter was called up again today, and Justice Michelle Arana heard submissions in her chambers from Lumor and Bradley's attorney, Michael Young.
When he exited the court, 7News asked Lumor for an update and if a resolution was possible in the near future. Here's what he told us
Fred Lumor - Attorney for Belize Waste Control
"The City Council last week sent a check of $50,000 to my client. The debt as of March 31st is almost $2.3m. So I can say to you that is pittance. They proposed to pay $10,000 a month so that would come up to $120,000 a year. The interest that accrues yearly is about $82,000. Realize that isn't a proposal. The matter is adjourned to June 10th and City Council has indicated to the court that they intend to reach a settlement with Belize Waste Control before that date. I have indicated to the court that on that day I intend to proceed if there is no settlement."
Daniel Ortiz
"Proceed in what fashion?"
Fred Lumor
"Proceed with the application to to site the Mayor of Content of Court for non-payment of the money."
Daniel Ortiz
"Is there any proposal that your client is willing to accept in which a reasonable payment plan is proposed?"
Fred Lumor
"Yes, the affidavit is filed after the last adjournment. They have written a letter in which they had indicated that they are prepared to pay $1m over 18 months. Then they would have negotiated the balance of the money with my client. That was reasonable. As you can see another letter was sent on Thursday which changed the game plan all together. If they stick with the affidavit they filed in court after the last adjournment; my client was prepared to consider those proposals to pay the $1m over the 18 months and negotiatie the balance of the money in one way or the other."
Daniel Ortiz
"So at this time what is the relationship your client shares with the City Council because of this outstanding debt."
Fred Lumor
"My client still continues to perform his obligation under the contract. This payment due has nothing to do with the weekly arrangement for garbage collection."
We also spoke to Mayor Bradley about the proposals he made to Belize Waste Control, and the real possibility that they may press for him to be jailed. Here's what he told us.
Darrell Bradley - Mayor, Belize City
"I want to point out first of all that this is something that has burdened the city council for years. It's something that's outstanding for over ten years. We're trying to do the best we can in recognizing that this is our obligation and we have to pay this debt. We also have other priorities of the council including getting our street works done, dealing with some of the other infrastructure programs that we have to get done. This is something we recognize that has to be addressed but it's something that has to be taken within the context of our other priorities and that was the spirit in which I communicated with Mr. Lumor in writing that we are prepared to commence making payments which we have done. I have also proposed to him that we put together a team comprising four members of the council including our attorney Mr. Michael Young and members of their side to see how we could come to a final and total settlement. That will include dealing with sanitation on a large scale. The proposal that I made, on all accounts, was very reasonable. One that we would start making payments which we have made the payments. The letter was accompanied by the said payment and also we put in place a mechanism so that we could have better dialogue between us so that if we are to talk about some type of restructuring or if we are to talk about a final settlement of this debt, then we will be able to put that in place within a relatively short period of time. If he brings an advisories stance in terms of wanting to press his claim in court that is his full right but just with the assurance that we will be there to defend it in every step of the way. This is not a problem that I created but we're looking at solutions that we could put in place that would be long term. This is a debt that has been outstanding for more than ten years. It's accrued a significant amount of interest. We are making payments and that is the first payment that they have received on this debt in ten years and that is not a problem that I created. It's something that we want to solve. It's a judgment that they have and we respect that we have to be bound by judgments. Everybody has their day in court, if they want to press their matter in court, we hope they wouldn't do that - then we will defend it."
We'll keep following this developing story.
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