Belize City Council employees got dealt a blow today. A letter from
their city administrator dated today says, quote, “the Council is
compelled to pay salaries at reduced rates for the April 1
st
- April 15
th
pay period. We have determined that it is currently financially
feasible to pay all employees at half-salary during the State of
Emergency. Note that these salary reductions are being applied across
the board and for all pay scales. We are making every effort to see how
best we can maintain this salary level for the April 16
th
â€" April 30
th
but are well aware that if we do not receive financial support from the
Central Government this may not be possible.†End quote.
That is a hard hit - and it comes at the height of the council’s
revenue high season - so it seems a little unexpected. The council
says, quote "Since the onset of the measures associated with COVID-19,
our revenues have been severely impacted.†End quote.
Yesterday we asked the Prime Minister about the dire straits the
councils all across the country find themselves in:
Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow - Prime Minister
“They will have to operate on a bare bones budget, just the minimum
necessary, absolutely essential services and in terms of doing that,
clearly when they reach a point that they don’t even have sufficient
monies to perform those basic functions, then of course government will
have to see how government can assist, that’s the duty of government
but remember that, we are ourselves strapped and so it’s a kind of
vicious circle that we will have to work out. I just don’t want to
encourage what you would call moral hazard.â€
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