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And with the cash crisis averted for the short term, Mayor Moya was back in her office this afternoon and told us it is all because of miscommunication. She blamed her city administrator Englebert Perrera for neglecting to call Waste Control. She says it has been resolved.

Zenaida Moya, Mayor of Belize City
“I spoke to Mr. Griffith earlier and I asked him why the people were out there. He told me had spoken to Mr. Englebert Perrera, the city administrator, a week and a half ago asking him about payments but Mr. Perrera had not returned his call hence the reason why the people were out there.

A simple phone call would have done. I know the City Administrator should have called him, he didn’t call Mr. Griffith but again I must say I spoke to Mr. Griffith and he did say next time he will call because that’s the relationship we have.”

Keith Swift,
Was the money available to pay Belize Waste Control?

Zenaida Moya,
“Well today we have proceeded to pay whatever was outstanding to him in full.”

Keith Swift,
How many weeks were outstanding?

Zenaida Moya,
“Well the City Administrator informed us it was two weeks.”

Keith Swift,
Is it that the City Council didn’t have the money?

Zenaida Moya,
“Well we have been paying for different stuff. I am not aware of the reasons why Mr. Griffith was not paid and I won’t speculate on that.”

Keith Swift,
Couldn’t you have foresee this happening though?

Zenaida Moya,
“No, I mean we have officers to do their jobs and we have a city administrator and his team that is there to administrate and I leave that up to them to do their jobs.”

Keith Swift,
Do you feel that people in your office, in your council might be trying to undermine you?

Zenaida Moya,
“Well what I can say is officers should do their jobs and if we find out otherwise then that will be dealt with.”

Keith Swift,
Do you think they have been doing their jobs since they didn’t call Mr. Griffith?

Zenaida Moya,
“Well I mean you see how when one phone call isn’t made, how that could cause a bit of unnecessary problems.”

Keith Swift,
This again raises questions about the cash situation with the council. I asked you on Friday if the council was cash strapped and you said no but here we have Belize Waste Control saying they haven’t been paid for two weeks. Is the council experiencing financial difficulties in terms of cash flow?

Zenaida Moya,
“Keith as I had mentioned, we are paying for our necessities. We have funds at the council, we are paying only for necessities however.”

Keith Swift,
And sanitation is a necessity?

Zenaida Moya,
“Sanitation is a necessity.”

Keith Swift,
What do you think is behind this, a protest with people with placards saying “Zenaida run di the money,” do you think there is something more to this?

Zenaida Moya,
“Well I won’t want to speculate but all I can say is that it smells of some sort of, you know, political…it smells of some sort of political odor. However you want to call, that is what I see but you know at the end of the day the problem was settled.”

Again the Mayor is probably confident because reliable reports are that today government agreed to turn over $250,000 to the City Council. In fact Moya confidently called Griffith and told him to deploy his workers because the check was on its way. Acting in good faith, that’s what Griffith did but when he left the office at 5:00 - he still had not received any money.

Information to us is that the City Administrator Englebert Perrera has refused to sign the checks. Multiple sources tell us that there was a confrontation between the Mayor’s loyalists and Perrerra. We were unable to speak to Perrera when we went to City Hall to see what was happening. Belize Waste Control receives $31,164 to pick up garbage weekly while Belize Maintenance Limited, BML, receives just over $60,000 to clean the streets and drains.