Workers at Marion Jones Sporting Complex claim they haven’t been paid.

There is trouble brewing at the Marion Jones Sporting Complex tonight where a number of construction workers belonging to a crew supervised by foreman Shelton Cuthkelvin have walked off their jobs.  Cuthkelvin, as we understand, is one of four men in charge of work being undertaken at the facility.  Workers complain that Cuthkelvin owes them substantial amounts of monies, thousands of dollars, for work they have done over the past few weeks.  After being pushed around for several days the men gathered outside the complex late this evening to collect their salaries only to be told that they would not be receiving the full amount that’s owed to them.  According to his employees, Cuthkelvin is the only foreman who is behind on payments at their worksite.

Worker #1

“We collect thirty-five dollars a day and sometimes we barely could ker home thirty-five dollars after two weeks salary. Dah like dehn yah people di play with we and man got woman and pikney. Imagine, you got a job and have to rob. Nobody know the life we di live out yah.”

Isani Cayetano

“Begin by sharing with me exactly what the situation is concerning your salary here at the Marion Jones.”

Voice of: Worker #2

“Well I hear the man done get the check already from Thursday, but now that the people di come collect, ih say ih noh get no money—ih get half ah di money. He noh wah pay nobody. Now he owe me one thousand dollars [and] he noh give me one shilling. How I wah do fi buy my food or pay my rent today now? Everybody stop work because ih noh make sense come back here and work because you come for nothing; you work for free. We had to stop man. Somebody have to do something with this man yah. Only he got that kind of problem; nobody else. The other contractors over there, anytime payday di come, he short ah money—he noh have enough money fi pay all the people. You know how many people ih owe? A lot.”

Worker # 3

“Today pay us for three weeks, three hundred and fifty dollars. me one hundred and fifty dollars. Me work construction ten years here in Belize. For this man, lotta problem. And lotta people this man thief mien.”