According to the Auditor General’s office, there will be no formal audit for the Belize City Council before the March 4 municipal elections, but there continue to be more questions than answers about the financial management at City Hall. Latest reports reaching our news desk indicate that since May last year, not only has the Belize City Council not been paying Social Security contributions for workers – it has moreover been making deductions from workers’ salaries but not forwarding those payments to the Social Security Board (SSB).
Amandala was able to confirm this from well placed sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity but confirmed the figure to be in excess of $300,000 – payments long overdue for the Belize City Council’s over 300 workers.
The excuse the Council has given to the SSB, our sources say, is that they don’t have the money to pay.
When one of our newspaper’s journalists spoke today with Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Dean Barrow, asking him about the matter, he said he knew absolutely nothing about it.
We understand that the matter has not yet been taken before the SSB’s board, and at least some board members are claiming they hadn’t heard such reports.
Amandala tried to reach Mayor Zenaida Moya late this evening, after we were able to confirm the reports, but unfortunately, to no avail.
For workers of the Belize City Council, the situation is precarious, as SSB requires that workers meet a certain amount of contributions before they can claim benefits, such as sickness and maternity benefits.
But more than that, one senior official we spoke with notes that it is a serious matter for the Belize City Council to be taking money out of the salaries of workers, while failing to pass on those payments to the SSB, as it should under law.
We understand that the SSB had written to the Belize City Council on repeated occasions about the matter, and our sources indicate that the board is considering taking the matter up in the courts.