COROZAL TOWN, Wed. Jan. 20, 2021– The mayor of Corozal Town, Rigoberto Vellos, has successfully renegotiated a 1.377-million-dollar contract with Imer Hernandez Development Company. The contract, which was for the paving of six streets in Corozal Town, was scheduled to be paid over a 10-year period, with arranged payments set for January to March of each year.

Upon entering office in March 2018, Mayor Vellos sought to renegotiate the contract various times unsuccessfully until this final attempt, which was made in late 2020. On January 13, 2021, the parties agreed to new terms. The new agreement extended the payment period and reduced the excessively high payments, which were previously scheduled for the first three months of each year.

A press release from the Corozal Town Council stated, “The re-negotiation of the terms will lower payments while extending the completion year. This will give much-needed financial breathing room to the Corozal Town Council, which amidst COVID-19 times has had to implement numerous austerity measures, including a reduction of salaries to 75%.”
The release notes that although sanitation workers continue to receive their full salaries, other measures, such as a shift system and more prioritized spending, has allowed the Corozal Town Council to retain its entire staff.

The previous contract between the Corozal Town Council and Imer Hernandez Development Company had mandated the council to direct its entire government subventions toward the scheduled payments to the development company from January to March. This affected the cash flow in the council and interrupted the payment of council employees.

Mayor Vellos said that over ninety-thousand dollars was previously being paid in the first three months of the year under the original terms of the contract. He announced that after his renegotiation, the council will pay only twenty-two thousand dollars over those three months, and will thus retain around seventy thousand dollars to meet its other expenses and obligations.