Is Waste Control Double-dipping with Lawsuits Against CitCo?
Darrell Bradley
Last week News Five was also informed that another claim has been filed in Court against City Hall, in which BWC is claiming that it is owed over six hundred thousand in arrears, allegedly accrued which the Council was paying back the first judgment debt. But Bradley says that’s not so. He in turn today made an interesting allegation that Belize Waste Control is suing him twice for the same amount.
Darrell Bradley, Belize City Mayor
“What they did is that they duplicated the claim. So that they sued us in the earlier part of this year for five hundred thousand dollars, and what they do is that they have a rolling bill with us, and we have entered into agreements with them that we’re going to pay that off…they always know we have a slow season and we run into the arrears position. This is nothing new. And what they did is that they sued us again for an amount including the same amount. So what we said is that amount isn’t owed because we paid off a substantial amount of that original claim…and then also the claim is res judicata, which means essentially its double jeopardy – you’ve sued us twice for essentially the same thing.”
Reporter
“Why would something like that happen? Is it a legal glitch? Is it malice?”
Darrell Bradley
“I would suspect that there is some animus between the company and myself. And I think that this is something which I have had to deal with for the past two and a half years. There’s no love lost between us. That is something that I can admit. When they go on TV they make certain statements. When I go on TV likewise I make certain statements. It’s not something I’m extremely proud of. So I do think there is some animosity there that has fuelled some of this litigation. We do have a committee that’s trying to work with them, because it’s not only the litigation, it’s a series of issues that we are trying to work out with them that they have with us and we also have with them. So we’re trying to focus on those things and we’re trying to avoid the courts. But it is their legal right to sue us, and when they sue us we defend the claim, but I always maintain that they are going to be paid.”
Mayor Bradley has less than a month to make a decision in relation to BML workers.
