Last week the Belize City Council announced it would not renew its contract with Belize Waste Control for the collection of garbage. On Friday Waste Control fired back at City Hall saying that if the City Council breaks the contract, it'll be breaking the law. According to Belize Waste Control, under the contract, Waste Control has the option to renew the $1.4 million annual contract for another 10 years and that's what they did, renew it until 2007. Waste Control's General Manager George Lamb says they've done their job and now it is time for the city council to do its job.
George Lamb, Belize Waste Control
"I was surprised at the City Council going to the media and not coming to us initially to deal with this matter. When it was said publicly that they weren't happy with our services, I have not received a letter.
The waste that you find at hotspots, mainly arrive as a result of commercial activities. Now the Council made a request of our company to provide services and try to help them initially to pick up from the 'hot spots' because they were experiencing some financial difficulties upon getting into office, which we have been doing.
You can hold me responsible to do a job you are not paying me for. The council is not paying us to collect the 'hot spots,' they are paying us to collect the residential dirt.
The Council has a responsibility under the law and also in our contractual agreement, between us and them, to enforce the litter law and they should be out there stopping the offenders from doing this. Our city is in not a garbage dump, the City Council needs to act on their responsibility in our relationship and this is where everything has fallen apart. They are not enforcing the law.
Under the current contract we have, it gives us an option to renew and we have expressed that option to renew and so we believe we have ten years on the contract at the end of this year in December."
Keith Swift,
But the City Council says no, they won't be renewing it.
George Lamb,
"Well it is quite surprising that the City Council has taken that position so what we have done, we have placed this whole fiasco in the hands of our attorney."
Belize Waste Control has 13 trucks and 45 employees. Two previous City Councils have taken contractual standoffs to arbitration. They failed in both attempts.
