The Mayor's Association met yesterday at a special meeting in Belize City. In attendance at that meeting were all mayors from across the country as well as director of local government Eugene Palacio. The topic on the agenda was the financial state of the municipalities and without fail there was open admission that they are all facing financial problems especially in meeting monthly operational costs. Special recognition was given to the financial situation of the Belize City Council that is presently unable to meet its sanitation expenses and which presently has over 300 employees uncertain of their employment future since even their weekly salaries are not being fully met. At the meeting the association proposed to have a meeting with the Prime Minister on August 16th but it seems the powers that be have psychic ability and today granted the association the meeting days before they had planned. Mayor Zenaida Moya was at the meeting and she says what was tabled is good news for her council and the sanitation workers.
Zenaida Moya, Belize City Mayor
"We came up with the fact that the Prime Minister would be calling the Belize Tourism Board to request that the head tax that was being given to the city council be reinstated. As you know, we were receiving US$1 and so that will be reinstated. We also came up with the fact that the Nova Scotia loan was paid off and it was being deducted via ten monthly installments which worked out to $43,000 a month. That loan will be spread out within three years instead of the ten months. Within those three years so that we will be able to be in a position to pay less without any interest being added on."
Alfonso Noble,
Outside of your mayoralship, you have had dealings with the Prime Minister before, in fact having deals with him and his agreement to do things. Do you all take this meeting in good faith, what he said he will do will be done?
Zenaida Moya,
"Well he said that he will make that call this evening. So by tomorrow I am expecting a call to say whether or not it has been completed. We don't have much time to waste. This Friday we will have to know whether or not we can pay the sanitation companies. So he needs to honor what was just agreed upon in the meeting."
Alfonso Noble,
How much of a burden has been lifted off your shoulders, or at least seemingly so having had this discussion with the Prime Minister and in fact his commitments to make sure that at least some revenue,. Some more revenue comes to the city council?
Zenaida Moya,
"You know until I know for sure tomorrow that we have in fact received something and we will be receiving something tangible then the weight would be lifted. I know that he would make promises so again I wish that he lives up to the promise. At the end of the day, whilst the city council is responsible for garbage and its disposal, everybody understands by now that the city council doesn't have the revenues. Currently the central government is in a position to assist the residents of Belize City and we're hoping that indeed the Prime Minister is serious about assisting and tomorrow we will see."
At the meeting was Prime Minister Said Musa and Minister of Local Government Jose Coye for government's side while Mayor Zenaida Moya, Deputy Mayor Wayne Usher and CITCO's internal auditor Anthony Castillo. Also discussed at the meeting is the issue of environmental tax that Moya says in Belize City can be used to produce a construction material from recycled plastic. That however is just a proposal and government will look at it as the environmental tax will be used by central government for the proposed move of the garbage dump from mile 3 on the Western Highway to a location further up the highway somewhere around mile 28.
