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Most businesses renew their trade licenses in January which is why the Belize City Council has chosen now to implement a new rule. It basically says that if you want your liquor or trade license renewed, you need to meet the City Council’s requirement for garbage collection. That means you could be denied a trade license if the City Council isn’t satisfied that you are properly discarding your garbage. The councillor in charge of sanitation Phillip Willoughby explained how it will work.

Phillip Willoughby, City Councillor
”When you come down to the council, before you reach the copy of trade license, you would have to meet certain standards in terms of how you dispose of your garbage. You know there is two options; the option to go to the dumpsite and throw away your waste or to go with Waste Control Limited. We are just ensuring now through this process that we understand where you are at this point and hopefully the city will become much more beautiful and less of the unattractive garbage that is around.”

Keith Swift,
“So you will deny a trade license on that basis?”

Phillip Willoughby,
“No, we are saying compliance. If any time, because if you have a trade license you will come pay for it, but throughout the remaining months in the upcoming year, you can get delinquent with your garbage and say I refuse to go to the dumpsite and I refuse to utilize the services of Belize Waste Control Limited and then just illegally start dumping garbage and not use any of the options and there then it comes in under the law to somehow say, here what, you are noncompliant with this section of being responsible with your waste and disposing of it improperly and then we stand to do our deliberations and look at ways to deal with you through your trade license.”

The policy is in effect immediately.