Mayor Wagner Leaves Next Council a Costly Waste Problem

Mayor Bernard Wagner is preparing to leave City Hall, but he is also passing an expensive and unresolved problem to the next council. His administration considered charging residents for garbage collection to help cover the council’s rising solid waste bill, but the unpopular proposal never materialized. Wagner now says the fee may have stalled under his watch, but sooner or later, city residents will likely have to pay.

 

Bernard Wagner, Mayor, Belize City

“Yes, it has been a very long fight, but I will say this, that has not gone away and that is every present, because at the end of the day, it cost the city close to four million dollars annually in garbage collection. That is like throwing away, annually, it is sixty-one thousand per week. It has worked out like close to two-forty per week, you do the math, close to four million. And that is not going away. That is the cost on the city. I like dealing with equity and if the residents in Orange Walk, in Belmopan in all the other municipalities are paying to pick up their garbage, why are we not paying to pick up our garbage. Belize City is a whole different animal, it is a big city, seven hundred and thirty-three plus streets, in the city and it is a continuously growing city, so at some point in time, you can dodge and dodge and dodge, but at some point, in time, you are going to have to face that reality.”

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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