Municipal and village councils all over the country of Belize have witnessed an increase in illegal dumpsites throughout the country. Hon Michael Hutchinson, Minister of State for Labour, Local Government and Rural Development, said that he has been working with village councils in Belize Rural Central recently on the removal of illegal dumpsites. He has allocated funds for the project but has been disappointed about the depth of the problem.
In speaking with the Guardian the Minister points to an incident in the Burrell Boom area in which his team had just spent two days working on an illegal dumpsite and as they were driving away from the site he saw a truck stop at the same site and dump a load of garbage. He instructed the man to remove the garbage immediately. This he says is exactly the type of activity that is making the work that much more difficult to address.
He added that there are procedures for garbage collection in Ladyville. He said that the Belize Waste Control goes around on Wednesdays and another company, Ladyville Sanitaiton Department also picks up garbage in the village for an approximate cost of $11 per month.
Hon. Hutchinson is very passionate about the situation. He says that we need to once again develop a sense of civic pride. He said that the money used for moving illegal dumpsites could have been used to fix roads, streets and build playgrounds. He concluded by appealing for residents in all areas to be more civic minded when disposing of their gargabe.
