Mayor Bradley explains the garbage fee arrangement with BWS

Darrell Bradley

Last Friday, Belize Water Services Ltd., the collecting agent for the proposed residential garbage fee, issued a release outlining the conditions under which the city council partnership can be successful.  Among those terms is that BWS will not disconnect its customers for failure to pay the new fee, despite generating and issuing the monthly invoice.  Since the burden is on City Hall to realize its monthly revenue, stringent measures have been put in place, including ticketing and prosecution of delinquents, to meet its shortfall.  Mayor Bradley told News Five that BWS’ position on the matter is justified.

Darrell Bradley, Belize City Mayor

“Nothing in the conditions that they have release derails from what we have said and what we maintain.  The position is that the City Council, before we entered into negotiations with the water company, we looked at what was the best way in terms of collections.  We looked at what was done in other municipalities, in Belmopan, in Ladyville and when the City Council itself, for example, in Belmopan, when the city council does this the collection rates tend to be very low and we looked at what was an effective mechanism. We did an analysis of all the collection agents within Belize City, including private collection agents and we came to the realization that the best one was the water company because water is a service that most everybody has and BWS has most collection centers throughout the city.”

“What their position is, and they’ve expressed this in the press release, is that they just want, and which is correct, they want members of the public to understand that them acting as our collection agent for the residential garbage fee has nothing to do with the provision of water services, which is one hundred percent accurate.  And we will shortly release a series of commercials which will advise members of the public how this thing will work.”

Isani Cayetano

“How does this work, in terms of that particular company having expressed the fact that it will not disconnect its customers for neglect or failure to pay the residential garbage fee?  How do you then take action…”

Darrell Bradley

“That is correct because the residential garbage fee, and at no point did the council ever say or suggest that persons water services would have been cut out.  We can’t do that.  The provision of water and also the Belize Water Services Ltd. that’s a regulated entity, it falls under the Public Utilities Commission and there are certain guidelines that are provided in the law with respect to billing and with respect to quality of service and disconnection.  All of that is regulated by law, we cannot interfere nor interrupt that.  All we are doing is that we are using BWS as our collection agent and they’ve agreed to do so, so that when persons do not pay the residential garbage fee, if they choose not to pay the residential garbage fee, then it will be for the City Council and not for BWS to enforce it, and that’s all that the press release clarifies and that has always been the position.  So that when persons do not pay we have in place mechanisms to ticket persons and then if they don’t pay the ticket then we will bring them to court and we also have provisions to assess a fee unto their property taxes if they don’t pay.  So there are recourses to us if persons are noncompliant.”