BELIZE CITY–A Belize City Council official today confirmed that following the granting of a writ of execution which was recently filed by attorneys of the Belize Waste Control (BWC), the sanitation company that had sued the Belize City Council (CitCo) for outstanding arrears earlier this year, a Court Marshall visited City Hall today to crowfoot two pickup trucks belonging to the Council and used for its staff, in an attempt to recover the balance of the court judgment, which was handed down about six weeks ago.
On October 17, the Supreme Court entered a default judgment against CitCo that is a product of an age-old dispute that City Hall has had with BWC over the arrears into which CitCo has periodically fallen in its payment for garbage collection services rendered by BWC.
Since Mayor Darrell Bradley and his council didn’t offer any defense at the hearing, the court ordered them to pay the company $525,000 in default.
According to CitCo officials, the City had reportedly been honoring that judgment, paying off the amount owed in parts, and we were informed that up until yesterday, Thursday, the council had approximately $59,000 dollars to pay before they would have completely settled the debt, but before that could have happened, a Supreme Court Marshall went to City Hall today to crowfoot the Council’s items so as to ensure that every last penny is collected.
Mayor Bradley is not presently in the country, but City Councilor Phillip Willoughby, who spoke about the matter in an interview with reporters today, gave an assurance that the issue had been resolved.
We were told that just over $51,000 was paid with the understanding that when the Mayor returns to the country next Monday, December 8, the rest will be dealt with.
The Council, Willoughby commented, would have been more than willing to pay the rest of the stipulated amount, but the remaining $7,600 cannot be paid without the Mayor’s signature.
While that issue might soon be over and done with, we have received information that Belize Waste Control’s attorneys have filed a new claim — this one for $620,000 — which is reportedly owed to the sanitation company for services that have been tendered up to date and have accumulated over the past few months.