Mayor Moya says there will be positive change for City Hall…

Many controversies plagued the Belize City Council in the past months particularly in the period leading to the March fourth elections. The discord ranged from garbage collection to public squabbles amongst councilors and City Council employees. But now City Hall is attempting to strike a different note and this morning at a press conference, the issue was all about change. We found Mayor Zenaida Moya in a reflective mood when she spoke to News Five on what change is expected at City Hall in its second term in office and how will she guide the city in the face of the challenges ahead.

Jose Sanchez
“When it comes to contractual partners like the garbage companies, you can’t change the contract and if the council doesn’t have the funds, they have shown they are willing to leave the garbage or send their workers to protest. How do you see yourself handling the situation with B.M.L. and B.W.S.L.?”

Zenaida Moya, Belize City Mayor
“Clearly we have a new councilor responsible for sanitation and I believe that councilor has a good rapport with the contractors and of course with the people in general. I think that it all has to do with the approach, not one against the other, a working relationship. I think this time around all of us need to take a more mature look at the situation and the problems. That’s the only way we’ll get about and I truly believe that this term we’ll have a better relationship with these particular contractors.”

Jose Sanchez
“The only complaint that I’ve personally heard a lot from people about the previous council was that former councilors and former employees having back and forth arguments in the public. How do you plan to steer away from that sort of controversy in the future? Is that possible?”

Zenaida Moya
“Yes, I think it is possible. We’ll always have internal arguments. However, it’s how we manage it that ultimately will decide how the people feel about the council and about the work we are doing. We don’t want negativity to lose what we are doing positively. We’ll be having team building sessions we’ve had a meeting and we’ve already agreed to have team building sessions and we’ll be starting with that early. So within a month we’ll be having team building sessions to try and improve the situation. Sometimes personalities can detract and sometimes egos can detract from the work at hand. We have to be reminded that the people have elected us to do a job. We need to put our egos and negative personalities, we need to try to shape them in a way that you know, it won’t interfere with the work at hand and to ensure we have a team that is actually working for the people. The team building sessions should definitely help and the people always have a role to play. They have to always remind all of us that it’s not for us it’s for them, it’s for everybody.”