Belize City Grapples with Garbage Crisis

Belize City has been dealing with a garbage crisis for weeks, leaving some streets littered with unsightly and foul-smelling trash. Residents of Freedom Street in the Port Loyola area reported on Monday that garbage collection had not occurred for two weeks. Overflowing bins have become a common sight, as the Belize City Council faces financial difficulties and has been unable to pay its garbage collection contractor, Belize Waste Control. The unpaid bill reportedly exceeds $800,000, and the issue has remained unresolved for over three weeks.

Today, News Five spoke with Kaya Cattouse, the city councillor responsible for sanitation maintenance. She acknowledged the visible and unpleasant state of the streets.

“The company responsible has not been picking up the garbage for whatever reasons, and as a result, the residents of Belize City have been left with garbage on the streets. It has been looking bad and feeling bad. Nobody wants to see garbage everywhere,” Cattouse said.

The garbage collection issue is not new to the city. Cattouse pointed out that previous administrations, including those led by mayors David Fonseca, Zenaida Moya, and Darrell Bradley, also faced challenges with garbage management. “If all these heads have had an issue with the garbage situation and cannot come to some kind of proper arrangement to get it resolved, then we have to look deeper into it because that is telling you that there is more to whatever contract there is,” she remarked.

When asked about a possible lawsuit from Belize Waste Control over nonpayment, Cattouse declined to comment.

“We have been trying our best to clean the areas that we can. However, it is not within the scope of the contract for City Council trucks to actually pick up residential garbage. So, it’s not something that we can just take our trucks and go out there and pick up the garbage. Because then, that will cause another problem,” she explained.

We will continue to follow this story.