Belize Waste Control protests over lack of payment

There is not a dull moment at City Hall and that means more trouble for Mayor Zenaida Moya. Upon assuming office in March 2006, the then united City Council was challenged by the Belize Waste Control over millions of dollars awarded in contracts to the garbage collection company. It was claimed after much negotiations that the city would save over two million dollars every year. And now in a week of plenty financial accusations hurled at the mayor, over twenty employees of Belize Waste Control today paraded in front of the City Hall on North Front Street wielding signs and calling on Mayor Zenaida Moya to pay up. According to the protestors, CitCo has not been paying its bills and it’s putting their jobs in jeopardy.

Carlos Meighan, Supervisor, Belize Waste Control
“We are out here because we were told this morning by management that they won’t be able to pay us. They are only deploying about half of the work force out on the streets because of non-payment.”

Employee, Belize Waste Control
“We can’t get pay and we job deh pan the line if we noh get pay. If Zenaida noh pay we, how we wah get pay? And ih tell we lie that how ih pay we boss and ih noh pay we boss nothing.”

Carlos Meighan
“The mayor got on TV and said she was paying and meeting all of her obligations and they weren’t cash strapped last week Friday, but unfortunately that’s not so. We haven’t received any payment for the month of August so far.”

Employee, Belize Waste Control
“We have to support wi boss you know because the man them have to eat. This dah wah important time, school di open, children dehn want go dah school, people want educate their children so that we could change the city from how it di goh. Yuh see what di go on inna the city right now? So I di support dehn people a hundred percent.”

According to Belize Waste Control Management, CitCo pays them thirty-one thousand dollars per week and they were three-weeks in arrears with the payments. News Five understands that this morning the Mayor promised B.W.S. that she would cut them a cheque for the ninety-three thousand dollars before the day was out. But at the close of business this evening, the company confirmed that they have not received any funds from CitCo, further confirming their suspicions that she just doesn’t have the cash to pay them.