Tonight Belize City continues to be choked by garbage. As we reported last night, since Monday Belize Waste Control hasn’t picked up garbage on the south or north side and tonight, it’s still there. Mayor Zenaida Moya called us during the news last night and told us a check for $31,000 was paid to Belize Waste Control yesterday. But it made no difference, and today again garbage was piling up all across the city. In fact the only thing that changed today is that Belize Waste Control and Belize City council are now publicly at each other’s throats – each accusing the other of spreading mistruths. We have both sides of the story tonight and we’ll let you decide.

Keith Swift Reporting,
There is garbage piled up on street corners, in alleys, and in front of homes - because the trucks that are supposed to be picking them up are parked inside Belize Waste Control’s compound. The company’s owner Anthony Griffith says that is because he hasn’t been paid.

Anthony Griffith, Owner – Belize Waste Control
“We’re not being paid by the Council. The 7th of November is four weeks that we haven’t been paid by the council.”

But councillor in charge of garbage collection Wayne Usher disputes that.

Wayne Usher, Belize City Councillor
“We owe Belize Waste Control I think, if I am not mistaken, about two weeks in arrears but just yesterday we gave them a check for one week. So the matter of not being paid is very relative to what we owe them and what we are paying them right now. We still have outstanding balances for Waste Control yes, that is accurate, but we have been paying. As I said yesterday they got a check.”

Keith Swift,
Belize Waste Control says they are actually owed for two months, you said two weeks.

Wayne Usher,
“That might be true but I don’t have my hand on the button so maybe it is two months, maybe it is two weeks. I will have to get the final figure from the account section which is another area but let’s not play with the numbers. The point is that I have admitted we do owe them some monies.”

Anthony Griffith,
“This is the last voucher, the last one and it says week ending the 6th to the 10th of October. We got this on the 17th of October, not when it was due a week later and we haven’t received any payments from the Mayor since then.

The trouble with this is Wayne Usher. He is the problem. That guy doesn’t know what he is doing and refuses to sit down and talk with us. He thinks he knows everything. He goes on like a stuffed goddamn peacock that doesn’t know what the hell he is doing and if he would only sit down and try to work with us there wouldn’t be a problem. He is the problem.”

Usher says it isn’t his or the council’s fault – he blames delinquent taxpayers.

Wayne Usher,
“We will be paying all that is owed to Waste Control that this council has incurred. It is just the matter of timing when it will be done because right now we are in what we call our low season in terms of revenue collection and our high season begins later this month and it goes right through until April of next year.

The first thing you hear is that everybody bruk. So if everybody bruk, paying property taxes will be the last thing on people’s agenda. If you are not paying the property taxes, how then can you expect the council to do the council’s business when they are not paying taxes. And I am not generalizing, I am just saying that that is the situation for real out there.

Yes we have incurred some debt with them but it is not that we are not going to pay it; it is just the timing as I said. In the meantime we have relied on the goodwill of Belize Waste Control to continue the work in the expectation that they will be paid because we’ve made the commitment and as a responsible council we will pay.”

But until they do:

Anthony Griffith,
“We’re just doing the best with what we have. If she pays me tomorrow I can clean up the whole city even if it takes me the whole weekend to do it. But like I said before, would you work for someone that doesn’t pay you.”

Keith Swift,
What do you want the city residents to do?

Anthony Griffith,
“That we are not being paid, simple as that. We can’t run these trucks on water. It takes money to operate this business. You think when these guys finish working on Friday I can tell them sorry we can’t pay you and we’ll let you know when. Can I tell them that? So what the Mayor said last night is a blatant distortion of the truth. And if you don’t tell the truth what do you tell? You fill in the blanks and she and Usher can come to me face to face and I will tell them the same thing I am telling you because it is the truth.”

Anthony Griffith maintains that his company is still picking up garbage and it continues to deploy workers daily. He has 12 trucks and 65 employees. Daily about 9 of those trucks are dispatched. City Councillor Wayne Usher says the City Council has also dispatched a truck to pick up garbage in the interim. Again garbage from Monday in most areas hasn’t been picked up.

And in the midst of all this is legislation which government will be taking to the House next week in which businesses in Belize City will pay for garbage pickup as part of their trade license. Those funds will be forwarded to the Waste Control so they will also collect commercial garbage.