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If you live in Belize City and your garbage wasn’t picked up today or yesterday – you are not alone because the city is in the midst of a garbage crisis. 6 of the 10 Belize Waste Control’s trucks were parked today and 40 of its 65 employees were sent home this morning, leaving the city deluged in garbage. According to Waste Control’s owner Anthony Griffith – he sent home 40 of his workers because he can’t pay them since the City Council hasn’t been paying him. Griffith says he hasn’t received a check from the City Council since the start of August. He has been paying his workers out of his pocket but says he cannot continue. And that’s why about two dozen frustrated sanitation workers went to City Hall this morning to protest. 7NEWS was there.

Keith Swift Reporting,
Today Belize City was suffocated by garbage – boxes, bags, and piles of garbage were everywhere – at many turns – on many streets – in front of many homes – and at many street corners. And that is because the men who normally pick up the garbage were in front of City Hall.

The protest was peaceful, though a team of police officers from Queen Street was dispatched to the area – and there was this small skirmish. But despite that wrinkle, the message was still loud and clear - and it was directed to Mayor Zenaida Moya. These workers say they are out here protesting because they have no jobs. They say it’s Mayor Moya’s fault.

Carlos Meighan, Supervisor – Belize Waste Control
“They can’t afford to pay us until they receive the payment from Belize City.”

Keith Swift,
When was the last time you guys got paid?

Carlos Meighan,
“We got paid to the end of July, we haven’t collected a penny for the month of August yet. Actually of the work force has been deployed and the other half is out here because we can’t afford to pay the whole crew and we don’t want to run into that problem.”

Keith Swift,
Who is to blame?

Carlos Meighan,
“Zenaida and City Council. She got on TV last week and said that she was meeting her obligations and had paid Belize Waste Control and they were not cash strapped. Obviously they are cash strapped and that’s why this sign asks her to tell us what’s going on.”

And of they don’t, the sanitation workers say the consequence will be messy.

Sanitation Worker #1,
“The city will be in a big mess. All those household garbage will be stinking up around the place. She can’t do better than this? What did we put her there for?”

Keith Swift,
Why are you blaming Zenaida?

Sanitation Worker #1,
“Because she didn’t pay the rest of the money.”

Sanitation Worker #2,
“She is not fulfilling half of her deal. That is what she should do, fulfil her half of the deal which she should fulfil. We will do our part and she should do her part. I just got my job the other day and what will happen to me if I my boss doesn’t collect, I won’t have a job. And then what will I start to do, there is nothing to do, you get the sense?”

Sanitation Worker #3,
“You see how the place looks right now, it looks like it is kind of alright but later on it will get messy messy. Garbage is a bad thing.”

Sanitation Worker #4,
“Right now like how they are playing with our money and thing, we won’t even have a job right now and then a lot of things will happen out here. We need to send the pickney to school and for them to eat and thing so we need to get our little money from the lady to help the city.”

Sanitation Worker #1,
“It will affect us big time because we have to pay school fees, we have to buy books, we have to buy all kinds of things for our kids to go to school and we have to pay bills.”

Sanitation Worker #4,
“If we don’t clean those school and things, those kids will be in dirt and will get sick and who will help, no one will help.”

Keith Swift,
So it is not that you guys don’t want to work?

Sanitation Worker #1,
“There is no work. The man won’t pay us anymore out of his pocket, directly we will run out of diesel so those trucks trying to do their thing, they will have to park directly.”

Keith Swift,
When was the last time you got paid?

Raymond Joseph, Sanitation Worker
“Last week Friday.”

Keith Swift,
So you have money, you can eat?

Raymond Joseph,
“No, I have bills to pay and I have children to mind and feed. I live on a weekly basis.”

Sanitation Worker #1,
“What about we who are getting out of our bed. We have to reach work for 5 in the morning. Do you know what all could catch we on our way to work and every time we go to work the police are always harassing we and we have to clean the city. And if we don’t clean the city, Belize is a mess.”

And judging by what we saw today, that may be an understatement.

And while their protest in front of City Hall was for Mayor Zenaida Moya, she wasn’t there to hear or see it. That is because she was in Belmopan most of the day. We are reliably informed that she left with $250,000 but not as a direct subvention, it was money government owed the city for license fees and registration from 2003 to 2007.