No Salaries for Belmpan CitCo Workers? Admin Blames it on Revenue Collection

The Belmopan City Council is having some cash flow problems. And the most recent payroll problem will not be the last, as according to the City Council, they have been having issues with collecting revenues. According to reports, several workers at the City Council did not receive their salary for the end of the month. And on August first, manual workers staged a demonstration in front of the City Hall. It is not clear if the workers have received salary as yet, because our call and text messages to City Administrator Ralston Fraser went unanswered. But what we do know is that workers at the council are not happy and on Wednesday the workers were joined by CWU President Mose Hyde. Our colleagues at Plus TV were on the ground in Belmopan on Wednesday where they spoke to both Fraser and Hyde about the matter.

Ralston Fraser, Administrator, Belmopan CitCo

Ralston Fraser

“Staff had not yet received their salaries for the end of the month, which ended yesterday. And might I say, when I say staff, I don’t mean just the manual workers; I mean all staff – the mayor, councilors, myself, and everybody. That is because we have had some delays in gathering our funds, which in my opinion, happens at certain points in time. This is that point in time and here we are with this situation. I was not aware that staff was acting on a sit-out or whatever it was referred to. But if they were doing that up to today the first not receiving their salaries as yet, there is no denying that.  The council is not out of money. You will realize that our electricity is still running, our water is still running, etc. Do we having some challenges? Yes, we do. Do we collect all the monies that should come from the general society for which we need to run the council? No. We have been having problems with collection. You know what, fair is fair. I don’t know, maybe some of the very employees who are being emotional – and I understand – over this situation are some of the people that owe taxes. This has been brought to the attention of the council and the council, I believe, had put something in place, I believe in their last caucus meeting, where they are going to make an attempt where they render this situation as fixed. Yes, this had happened before and, Paul, this will happen again.”

Mose Hyde

Mose Hyde, President, CWU

“I am basically here to make sure that those who have demonstrate the courage to step forward, that they are doing what is right. They are not disrespecting. It is not insubordination. Any person who has done a day’s work is absolutely wise if they feel that they must ensure that their remuneration is timely. That is just a two-way street of respect. This is what we have said to the City Council and we do hope, we really hope that this matters is resolved.”