B.W.C. protest CitCo for 7 weeks of payment owed…

It was déjà vu for the Belize City Council this morning as workers from the Belize Waste Control showed up at their North Front headquarters wielding placards. The issue once again was the council’s outstanding debt to B.W.C. Last week Tuesday the company sent out a press release expressing its frustration at Mayor Zenaida Moya for always being behind on her payments. The release also criticized Moya for issuing them a check which bounced when they took it to the bank. With no payment forthcoming since then, B.W.C. took to the streets today to try and get some attention. According to Manager George Lamb, CitCo is now almost two months behind on its payments.

George Lamb, Manager, B.W.C.
“On a daily basis and in some instances, two, three times a day we try to get in touch with the council in order for them to make payment.”

Kendra Griffith
“And you haven’t been able to?”

George Lamb
“We have gotten the council’s position and we have gotten excuses and I believe the council is doing its best, but we are not getting our payment and this is why we are out here. We are out seven weeks of payment and we are trying to get the council to give some attention to it because we can only provide our service based on the finance that we have and if we are not being paid for it, then eventually we won’t be able to provide the service. I don’t know if there is a person in Belize who can work for seven weeks and not get paid. I don’t know how they can meet their payments, their utility; that is too much the council is asking of us. Imagine City Council not getting no money to run the city for seven weeks. You know what would happen? Our employees need to be paid, they have children that need to go back to school, their utility bills, they have to eat, so we have to make weekly payments for these guys’ labour.”