Garbage Crisis in Belize City: Uncollected Trash Sparks Public Outrage

Uncollected garbage in Belize City has sparked another round of upset and controversy as the Belize City Council continues to be saddled with a garbage bill of sixty five thousand dollars weekly.  Last week, the Belize Waste Control did not collect any garbage in the city, causing an accumulation on the streets’ sidewalks.  Some garbage collection did resume on Tuesday but the backlog continues to this day.  Love News understands that the Belize City Council is behind payments for some three months, and with that the company had paused its collection.  It is not a unique situation as the company has done this several times in the past under various city administrations.  Back in January 2009, workers from the Belize Waste Control picketed City Hall when Zenaida Moya was the mayor.  In February 2013, the then Mayor, Darrell Bradley was taken to court for unpaid garbage fees.  It is a contract that is so binding that the past and present councils are having a hard time getting out of.  This time around, the onus is on Mayor Bernard Wagner.  We understand, however, that come next week Prime Minister John Briceno will be meeting to address the situation.  PM Briceno confirmed with our newsroom today that he has had preliminary discussions with the mayor on the situation.

John Briceño, Prime Minister of Belize: “I just brought up the issue about the contract and the outstanding bill that they have. The mayor has pointed out that the bill is not as large as what some people are making it out to be. But I have arranged for a meeting on Wednesday with the mayor and some of his staff to be able to discuss this and to look at this contract and to see how we can ensure that we have something sustainable because this contract has been going on for many years and successive councils have been struggling to keep up. So we have to find a way. And I believe that we are a government of finding solutions so we expect that on Wednesday we could discuss looking from all avenues on how we could address this issue. For us it’s of paramount importance to be able to pick up the garbage, to keep Belize City clean. This council has done an exemplary job and we can’t allow it to… for that reputation to be sullied during Christmas time. And I think that sometimes maybe the company’s taking advantage of it being the Christmas season to be able to say to slow down on the collection of the garbage. But we have to deal with it. We have to address it. We have to solve it on behalf of the citizens of Belize City.”

One of the solutions brought forward by Belize City Mayor Bernard Wagner has been to implement a garbage collection fee for city residents. Back in 2022, Bernard spoke about wanting to collect a small monthly fee from households across the municipality to offset its yearly three-point eight-million-dollar garbage bill. However, due to major pushback, the idea was placed on the back burner. Today, our newsroom opened an online poll asking the public to vote on whether they feel a garbage fee should be implemented.  Up to five thirty this evening, one thousand nine hundred and eight votes were cast; with fifty one percent agreeing to the garbage fee and forty nine percent objecting.  Prime Minister Briceno indicated that it would not be a bad idea, but the final decision would be for the Belize City Council to make. 

John Briceño, Prime Minister of Belize: “Well I think that all of us are supposed to do our part as to how that can be done is something that’s left to be discussed. But we leave that in the hands of the city. They are going to be the ones they believe how best to be able to solve that issue. And whatever recommendations they may make, of course then we at the national level, at the cabinet level, would give it serious consideration.”

The issue has plagued various city councils in the past, but in the current council’s three terms, it is the first time the payment issue has arisen.