… And City Council’s new garbage collection fees

The city council might have another fire to put out, but this time it won’t be at the dumpsite. The flames may come from businessmen who have been dodging garbage collection fees by dumping their waste at other locations. Meanwhile, the council has a new set of charges it plans to implement across the board. Belize City Mayor Zenaida Moya and councilor responsible for garbage collection, Philip Willoughby, explain how the rates will work for everyone.

Philip Willoughby, City Councillor
“We will be regulating the dumpsite based on the mechanisms that were handed to us by the Solid Waste Management Authority. And in terms of dealing with human resource issue, the operations from our mechanical equipments and putting in additional infrastructure, will cost a hefty sum of money. So we will be regulating the dumpsite now, these fees will play a substantial and a significant role in terms of running the operations here on the land fill now.”

Jose Sanchez
“What’s gonna be the increase?”

Philip Willoughby
“I don’t want to speak off the top; I don’t have the records on me so I don’t want to speak. But for the most expensive will be six hundred and sixty dollars and the minimum will be twenty dollars.”

Zenaida Moya, Mayor, Belize City
“The minimum would be levied on the ‘mom and pop’ business, which would work out to ten dollars a month or two dollars and fifty cents a week.”

Though the council is one hundred percent sure of the implementation of the new fees, it is still unable to confirm whether or not the government of Belize owns the fifty acres of land that the dump site sits on.